/  ^ 


C' 


THE    LIFE 


REV.  ADAM  CLARKE,  LL.D., 

F.A.S.,  M.R.I.A.,  ETC.,  ETC. 


BY  J.  W.   ETHEKIDGE,   M.A., 

DOCTOR  IN  PHILOSOPHY,   OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   HEIDELBEEO,   AND 
MEMBEB   OF  THE  ASIATIC   SOCIETY   OF  PAKIS. 


Amabat  vehementer  quod  docebat,  docebat  argute  quod  amabat ;  utrumque  gignit 
in  eo  qui  scriptls  illius  propius  iutendit  animum. — ERASMUS. 


<X~  t  ro    T)ork: 

PUBLISHED  BY  CARLTON  &  PORTER, 

200   MtTLBEEKY-STREET. 
1859. 


LIBRARY 

DIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNU 

SANTA  BARBARA 


INTRODUCTION 

TO  THE    AMERICAN    EDITION. 


No  name  in  the  history  ofMethodism,  after  John  Wesley's, 
is  more  widely  and  honorably  known  than  that  of  ADAM 
CLARKE.  His  "Commentary  on  the  Bible"  has  been  more 
generally  circulated,  both  in  the  British  Islands  and  in 
America,  within  the  last  thirty  years,  than  any  other  expo- 
sition of  the  sacred  writings.  The  Biblical  culture  of  many 
a  Methodist  minister  is  due  chiefly  to  that  great  work.  And 
although  it  is  now  to  some  extent  behind  the  present  state 
of  science,  especially  in  the  geography  and  topography  of 
the  Holy  Land,  its  multifarious  learning,  and  its  excellent 
practical  observations  and  reflections  make  it  of  great  value, 
and  keep  it  in  circulation. 

But  those  who  know  Adam  Clarke  only  from  his  Com- 
mentary know  little  of  the  man.  His  mental  characteristics, 
it  is  true,  are  broadly  stamped  on  that  vast  work :  his 
simplicity,  industry,  self-reliance,  boldness,  even  credulity, 
are  obvious  enough  to  the  careful  reader  of  the  Commentary. 
But  the  nobleness  of  his  nature,  his  thorough  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  God,  his  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  his  unfaltering 
loyalty  to  Methodism — these  traits  are  chiefly  displayed  in 
other  fields  of  his  activity.  To  exhibit  and  illustrate  them 
is  the  task  of  his  biographer.  A  copious  life  of  Dr.  Clarke, 
by  his  son,  including  a  curious  and  characteristic  autobiog- 
raphy, appeared  in  London  in  1834,  (3  vols.  8vo,)  and  was 
afterward  republished  in  this  country.  But  it  never  sup- 
plied the  wants  of  the  general  public  as  a  life  of  Dr.  Clarke. 
Too  bulky  for  general  and  cheap  circulation,  and  too  minute 
and  prolix  for  easy  reading,  it  affords  a  repository  of  facts 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

for  the  biographer,  rather  than  a  biography  itself.  The  want 
of  a  portable  volume,  portraying  the  man  as  he  was,  for  the 
people,  has  long  been  felt. 

Dr.  Etheridge  has  supplied  this  want  in  the  volume 
now  offered  to  the  public.  He  evinces  that  first  requi- 
site of  a  biographer,  a  true  and  hearty  sympathy  with 
the  subject  of  his  work,  in  a  high  degree.  He  dis- 
criminates well  amid  the  vast  mass  of  extant  material, 
selecting  the  salient  points  of  Dr.  Clarke's  varied  career, 
and  presenting  them  clearly  and  boldly.  If  he  fails  at  all, 
it  is  in  the  grouping  of  his  facts  ;  pictorial  skill  is  not  among 
his  most  striking. endowments.  But  even  the  naked  facts 
are  enough ;  the  plain,  unvarnished  tale  of  the  rise  of  Adam 
Clarke  from  the  hut  of  the  humble  schoolmaster  in  Ireland, 
to  be  the  companion  of  princes  and  of  the  intellectual  mon- 
archs  who  are  far  higher  than  princes,  is  a  record  of  sur- 
passing interest.  Most  of  all  is  the  work  valuable  as  the 
history  of  a  true  and  earnest  Christian  life ;  simple  and 
modest  in  its  profession,  but  manly  and  robust,  to  the  highest 
degree,  in  its  realities. 

Besides  the  attractiveness  of  this  volume,  as  the  record  of 
a  life  full  of  rapid  changes,  and  touching  human  society  at 
many  points,  it  has  an  ethical  value  for  all  classes  of  readers. 
To  the  young  student  it  will  afford  th»  stimulus  and  example 
of  unparalleled  devotion  to  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  under 
difficulties,  and  of  grand  success  in  the  pursuit.  For  the 
Methodist  minister  it  portrays  a  career  of  itinerancy  in 
which  the  most  minute  attention  to  the  details  of  that  ardu- 
ous life  were  made  compatible  with  continued  and  system- 
atic culture.  For  the  Christian  reader  it  depicts  a  life  of 
earnest,  simple,  childlike  piety,  growing,  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end,  in  richness  of  experience,  and  fullness  of  sancti- 
fication,  throughout  a  career  of  unexampled  labors,  cares, 
and  temptations. 

The  book  is  welcome  to  its  place  among  that  repository 
of  true  and  noble  names,  that  genuine  Acta  Sanctorum  of 
modern  times,  the  list  of  "  Methodist  Biographies." 


PREFACE. 


It  has  long  been  felt  that  the  communion  of  which  the 
eminent  person  to  whose  memory  these  pages  are  dedicated 
was  a  devoted  minister,  should  have  its  own  record  of  his 
exemplary  life ;  and  the  Committee  charged  with  the  literary 
affairs  of  the  Methodist  Connection  have  the  happiness  of 
stating  that,  by  an  arrangement  with  his  surviving  repre- 
sentatives, by  which  the  copyright  of  many  inedited  papers 
has  come  into  their  possession,  they  are  enabled  to  meet 
such  a  demand.  Several  years  have  passed  since  the  pub- 
lication of  any  biography  of  Dr.  Clarke;  and  we  believe 
that  the  time  is  now  come  when  a  new  volume  on  the  sub- 
ject, written  on  a  plan  altogether  different  from  any  already 
pursued,  may  be  offered  without  disparagement  to  the  inter- 
ests of  preceding  authors. 

The  ample  materials  placed  at  our  disposal  are  sufficient 
for  the  creation  of  a  work  as  voluminous  as  some  of  our 
largest  English  biographies  ;  those,  for  example,  of  Chalmers 
or  of  Wilberforce ;  but  the  object  of  the  Committee,  to  offer 
a  memoir  which  shall  be  accessible  to  readers  in  general, 
would  thereby  have  been  defeated.  A  book  of  such  dimen- 
sions, like  the  Leviathan  ship,  is  not  always  easily  launched. 
As  it  is,  we  have  the  satisfaction  of  believing  that  the  pres- 
ent work  will  be  found  to  present  the  memorabilia  of  Dr. 
Adam  Clarke's  life  and  character  in  such  a  clear  and  truo 


6  PREFACE. 

light  as  shall  render  it  an  acceptable  gift  to  those  who  knew 
and  loved  him,  and  a  means  of  pleasure  and  profit  to  many 
others,  who,  now  becoming  acquainted  with  his  excellences, 
will  begin  to  love  him  too. 

It  will  not  be  deemed  at  all  disrespectful  to  the  Doctor's 
name,  that  we  have  recounted  the  annals  of  his  life  without 
overloading  our  recital  with  a  cumbrous  mass  of  particulars, 
which,  important  as  they  may  have  been  in  their  own  hour, 
do  not  extend  a  sufficient  influence  on  after  time  to  demand  a 
record  on  the  page  of  history.  This  principle  has  been 
adopted  as  the  right  one  in  all  the  ages  of  literature ;  and 
therefore  some  of  the  choicest  and  most  classic  biographies, 
both  ancient  and  modern,  are  distinguished  by  their  com- 
parative brevity. 

We  have  to  express  our  respectful  sense  of  obligation  to 
Mrs.  Richard  Smith,  the  daughter  and  first  biographer  of 
Dr.  Clarke,  for  the  kindness  with  which  she  has  afforded 
every  facility  for  the  completion  of  this  new  Life  of  her 
honored  father ;  and,  also,  our  best  thanks  to  Messrs. 
W.  Tegg  and  Co.,  the  proprietors  of  the  Doctor's  volumin- 
ous works,  for  their  permission  to  republish  the  excellent 
portrait  which  gives  an  embellishment  to  the  present  volume. 

March,  1858. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY 9 

BOOK  I. 

THE     MORNING      OF     LIFE. 

PAGC. 

CHAPTER  I.  His  PAEENTAGE  AND  CHILDHOOD 13 

II.  REGENERATE 29 

III.  FIRST  ESSAYS  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  CHRIST.  ...  50 

IV.  THE  OPENED  ROAD  ROUGH  AT  THE  OUTSET.  . .  57" 
V.  THE  EVANGELIST 70 

VI.  THE  EVANGELIST 85 

VII.  THE  MISSIONARY 106 

VIII.  THE  CIRCUIT  MINISTER 133 

IX.  THE  CIRCUIT  MINISTER 153 

/ 

BOOK  H. 

MERIDIAN. 

CHAPTER  I.  THE  PREACHER 171 

II.  THE  PASTOR 187 

HI.  THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOR — CONTINUED  . . .  201 
IV.  THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOR — CONTINUED.  . .  223 

V.  THE  PRESIDENT , 237 

VI.  ITTNERANOY.  . ,  257 


8  CONTENTS. 

PAf.  K. 

VII.  ITINERANCY 266 

VIII.  THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR 281 

IX.  THE  STUDENT — CONTINUED 307 

X.  THE  AUTHOR 322 

XL  THE  LITERARY  SERVANT  OF  THE  STATE 340 

XII.  THE  COADJUTOR  OF  THE  BIBLE  SOCIETY 348 

XIII.  THE  COMMENTATOR 351 

BOOK  III. 

EVENING. 

CHAPTEE  I.  THE  ELDER  REVERED  IN  THE  CHURCH '373 

II.  HONORED  BY  THE  GREAT  AND  GOOD 389 

III.  THE  PHILANTHROPIST 401 

IV.  THE  FRIEND 413 

V.  THE  HUSBAND 431 

VI.  THE  FATHER 438 

VII.  THE  SAINT,  IN  LIFE  AND  DEATH 446 

SUPPLEMENT    OF    ILLUSTRATIVE    PASSAGES    FROM    DR. 

CLARKE'S  CORRESPONDENCE  . .  .  461 


INTRODUCTORY. 


THE  most  ancient  book  in  the  possession  of  mankind,  the 
Genesis  of  Moses,  has  enregistered  for  all  time  a  series  of 
biographical  memoirs.  The  Spirit  of  God,  in  dictating  those 
recitals  by  his  own  inspiration,  has  thus  given  a  Divine  and 
eternal  signature  to  the  lawfulness  and  utility  of  a  descrip- 
tion of  writing  which  perpetuates  the  names  of  the  great 
and  good,  re-echoes  the  words  of  the  silent  dead,  and  pre- 
serves, in  imperishable  fragrance,  the  sanctities  of  their  ended 
life.  The  same  principle  is  inculcated  throughout  the  Bible. 
"  The  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed."  "  The  righteous  shall 
be  in  everlasting  remembrance."  Upon  the  Christian  Church 
the  duty  is  enjoined  by  an  express  command,  to  "  remember 
them  who  have  spoken  to  us  the  word  of  God,"  and  to  imi- 
tate their  faith.  May  he  then  who  now  writes,  and  they 
who  shall  read,  the  words  of  this  record,  be  stirred  up  to 
follow  the  high  example  of  him  to  whose  memory  these 
pages  are  consecrated ;  remembering  "  the  end  of  his  con- 
versation, Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever." 

A  quarter  of  a  century  has  already  passed  since  this  emi- 
nent servant  of  God  descended  to  the  grave ;  yet,  not  for  a 
day  in  this  long  interval  has  he  ceased  to  preach  among  the 


10  INTRODUCTORY. 

living  the  truths  which  it  was  the  labor  of  his  life  to  illus- 
trate and  practice.  And  while  some  of  his  contemporaries, 
who,  in  their  day,  made  a  considerable  figure,  have  already 
disappeared  in  oblivion,  time,  the  great  prover  of  all  things, 
has,  for  the  name  of  Adam  Clarke,  authenticated  a  title  to 
immortality.  The  worth  of  his  character,  his  massive  and 
consecrated  learning,  the  high  motives  of  his  laborious  life, 
and  the  enduring  beneficence  of  its  results,  have  all  been 
verified  by  a  scrutinizing  world. 

The  retrospect  of  such  a  career  will  strengthen  the  best 
aspirations  of  the  heart,  and  show  us  the  way  to  attain  their 
objects.  Adam  Clarke  uplifts  his  eyes,  at  the  outset,  to  the 
true  standard  of  human  effort — the  glory  and  approval  of 
the  Most  High  God.  With  this  great  ideal  he  holds  such 
habitual  converse,  as  greatly  to  think,  and  feel,  and  live,  till 
at  length  his  character  brightens  into  a  deathless  grandeur, 
and  he  "  stands  in  his  lot"  with  those  nobles  of  the  universe 
who  are  "  a  kind  of  first-fruits  "  of  the  creatures  of  God. 

Few  ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  the  present  age,  by  the 
integrity  of  their  character,  the  splendor  of  their  learning, 
and  the  sterling  merit  of  their  works,  have  acquired  more 
largely  the  veneration  of  enlightened  and  impartial  men  in 
all  parts  of  Christendom,  than  Dr.  Clarke;  and,  if  so  many 
of  the  good  and  great  in  every  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church 
have  learned  to  esteem  his  memory,  it  well  becomes  that 
particular  communion  of  which  he  was  a  conspicuous  orna- 
ment, and  in  the  most  intimate  fellowship  with  which  he 
lived  and  died,  to  enshrine  his  name  in  her  heart,  and  to 
teach  it  to  her  children.  "  He  was  a  burning  and  shining 
light ;"  and  we,  who,  while  he  was  yet  personally  with  us, 
rejoiced  in  the  benefit  of  his  luminous  ministration,  should 
give  some  worthy  attestation  of  our  grateful  estimate  of  his 


INTRODUCTORY.  11 

labors  and  his  love,  and  of  our  desire  that  those  who  follow 
us  may  profit,  to  distant  ages,  by  the  unfading  reflections  of 
his  wisdom,  and  the  inspirations  of  his  great  example. 

Nor  is  there  any  need  that  this  sacred  tribute  should  be 
spoiled  of  its  moral  effect  by  the  use  of  exaggerated  eulogy, 
or  the  pompous  imbecilities  of  laborious  panegyric.  No 
man  requires  this  at  our  hand.  We  do  not  ask  that  the 
name  of  Adam  Clarke  should  be  canonized,  nor  seek  for 
him  a  niche  in  the  pantheon  of  imaginary  saints,  around 
whose  heads  a  paganized  Romanism  has  traced  the  aureole 
of  unearthly  perfection.  It  is  our  aim  to  fulfill  the  far  more 
difficult  but  more  fruitful  task  of  portraying  the  actual  life 
of  a  sincere  Christian,  a  diligent  inquirer  after  truth,  and  a 
hard-working  and  effective  servant  of  God,  and  of  man,  in 
the  diffusion  of  it — clad,  all  the  while,  in  the  every-day  habili- 
ments of  suffering  humanity. 

And  if  the  most  sun-like  of  characters  have  had  their 
spots,  and  no  mere  man,  however  great,  has  ever  appeared 
without  some  imperfections  and  littlenesses,  the  subject  of 
our  memoir  will  not  be  depreciated,  if  we  find  that  in  opinion 
he  was  sometimes  in  error,  or  that  in  any  of  the  partialities 
or  prejudices  of  the  heart  he  gave  evidence  of  being  a  fellow- 
creature,  of  like  passions  with  ourselves.  But,  after  all,  it 
will,  I  believe,  be  a  common  conclusion,  that  he  was  more 
free  from  these  inevitable  blemishes  than  most  men  ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  few  instances  may  be  adduced  in  which 
a  nobler  model  has  been  offered  to  the  study  and  imitation 
of  the  aspirant  after  real  excellence.  The  lessons  of  his  life 
teach  those  who  are  asking  after  the  way  of  salvation,  the 
secret  of  attaining  true  repose  for  the  conscience,  and  purifi- 
cation for  the  heart ;  the  heroic  enterprises  of  his  intellect 
animate  the  student  to  press  into  those  regions  of  knowledge 


12  INTRODUCTORY. 

into  which  he  went  as  a  pioneer,  and  where  there  remains 
so  much  land  to  be  possessed ;  the  evangelist  will  be  stirred 
up  to  seek  the  needed  and  promised  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  with 
whose  uncreated  flame  this  great  doctor  of  the  Church  was 
so  richly  baptized ;  and,  even  with  regard  to  secular  inter- 
ests, in  his  advancement  from  the  humblest  circumstances 
to  an  elevation  in  which  he  became  the  recognized  teacher 
of  teachers,  and  the  familiar  friend  of  the  prelate  and  the 
prince,  young  men  may  learn  how,  in  a  country  and  age  like 
ours,  integrity  and  diligence  in  one's  allotted  sphere  will  not 
fail  of  their  recompense  of  reward.  In  a  word,  in  the  prog- 
ress of  his  career,  the  living  may  learn  how  to  live ;  and  in 
its  consummation,  the  dying,  how  to  die. 

The  providence  and  grace  of  God  have,  from  age  to  age, 
raised  up  men  whose  lives  should  be  a  beacon  of  hope  to 
them  who  come  after.  "A  true  intellect  stands  like  a  watch- 
tower  upon  the  shore."  The  waves  thunder  against  it,  and 
vanish  in  spray.  Its  clear  and  steady  lamp  burns  in  the 
storm ;  a  consolation  and  a  guide,  over  the  dark  sea,  to  the 
haven  of  glory. 


THE   LIFE 


KEY.  ADAM    CLARKE,    LL.D. 


BOOK  I. -THE  MORNING  OF   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HIS    PARENTAGE   AND    CHILDHOOD. 

To  retrace  the  foosteps  of  ADAM  CLARKE'S  early  youth,  we 
should  visit  some  obscure  hamlets  in  Ireland,  lying  on  the 
borders  of  the  North  Channel,  in  a  champaign  country 
abounding  in  landscapes  where  a  Ruysdael  or  a  Paul  Pot- 
ter would  have  found  many  a  congenial  subject  for  his  pen- 
cil. The  ancestors  of  Adam  Clarke,  though  of  English 
origin,  had  been  settled  in  that  part  of  Ireland  for  some 
generations,  and  were  possessed  of  good  landed  property  in 
the  counties  of  Antrim  and  Derry.  The  family  came  into 
Ireland  some  time  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  obtained 
a  portion  of  what  were  called  the  "Debenture  Lands." 
The  property  thus  acquired  was  afterward  increased  by 
intermarriages  with  the  families  of  Strawbridge,  Courtenay, 
Higgison,  and  Boyd.  Dr.  Clarke's  great-great-grandfather, 
William  Clarke,  held  the  estates  of  Grange,  in  the  county 
of  Antrim,  and  was  regarded  with  such  consideration  in  the 
county,  as  to  be  appointed  to  receive  the  Prince  of  Orange, 


14  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

when,  in  1690,  he  came  to  Carrickfergus.  An  anecdote  of 
this  interview  is  preserved,  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Clarke, 
though  at  that  time  a  disciple  of  the  rigid  doctrines  of 
George  Fox,  mindful  neither  to  compromise  his  principles 
as  a  Quaker,  nor  his  behavior  as  a  gentleman,  left  his  hat 
behind  him,  and  so  approached  the  prince  bareheaded.  He 
addressed  his  future  monarch  in  a  few  words  of  dignified 
simplicity,  with  which  the  prince  seemed  well  content,  and 
entered  upon  a  conversation,  at  the  close  of  which  he  was 
pleased  to  say,  that  Mr.  Clarke  was  one  of  the  best-bred 
men  he  had  ever  met  with.  This  William  Clarke  had  a  son 
named  John,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Horseman, 
mayor  of  Carrickfergus.  They  had  eighteen  sons  and  one 
daughter.  The  ninth  of  these  sons  was  William  Clarke,  the 
grandfather  of  our  Adam.  He  formed  a  matrimonial  con- 
nection with  the  Boyds,  a  family  of  Scotch  extraction,  who 
appear  to  have  settled  in  Ireland  about  the  same  time  with 
the  Clarkes.  Archibald  Boyd  was  a  Presbyterian  clergy- 
man, and  the  first  Protestant  who  preached  at  Maghera 
after  the  Revolution.  The  fruit  of  the  marriage  of  William 
Clarke  with  Miss  Boyd  were  four  sons,  of  whom  the  eldest, 
John,  was  the  father  of  Adam. 

These  few  details  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  family 
of  the  Clarkes  held  rank  formerly  with  the  most  substantial 
and  respectable  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom.  But,  like 
those  of  many  other  houses,  their  fortunes  had,  toward  the 
end  of  the  last  century,  undergone  a  disastrous  change. 
Their  'lands  in  the  neighborhoods  of  Larne  and  Glenarm, 
and  on  the  pleasant  banks  of  Lough  Neagh,  fell,  by  one  loss 
after  another,  into  the  hands  of  strangers.  A  lawsuit  de- 
prived them  of  an  excellent  estate  called  "the  Grange;" 
and,  while  Adam  was  yet  a  child,  the  last  acre  of  their  prop- 
erty was  gone.  "  I  well  remember,"  ho  once  said,  "  the 
time  when  the  last  farm  went  out  of  the  family,  and  our 
;innmt  boast  was  lost  forever.  The  weeping  and  wailing 
that  morning  upon  which  we  were  made  acquainted  with 
the  fact,  still  live  in  my  rememberance,  though  I  was  then 


PARENTAGE  AND  CHILDHOOD.  15 

scarcely  seven  years  of  age."  Yet,  who  knows  but  that  there 
was  mercy  in  this  stroke  ?  Had  that  little  estate  remained, 
men  would,  perhaps,  never  have  heard  of  Adam  Clarke. 
The  Supreme  Disposer  often  takes  away  one  blessing,  to 
make  way  for  a  greater. 

John,  the  father  of  Adam  Clarke,  has  been  described  by 
the  latter  as  a  "man  standing  about  five  feet  seven,  with 
good  shoulders,  an  excellent  leg,  a  fine  hand,  and  every  way 
well  proportioned,  and  extremely  active."  Intended  by  his 
parents  for  the  Church,  he  had  received  a  good  classical  ed- 
ucation at  school,  which  was  followed  up  by  studies  for  the 
clerical  profession,  at  the  universities  of  Edinburgh  and 
Glasgow.  Among  his  college  testimonials  was  the  name 
of  the  eminent  Hebraist,  Hutchinson.  At  Edinburgh  he 
gained  a  prize  of  some  distinction,  and  at  Glasgow  took  his 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  He  then,  with  the  more  immedi- 
ate view  of  qualifying  for  episcopal  orders,  entered  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  successfully  competing  for  a  sizarship,  at  a 
time  when  classical  merit  was  the  only  passport  to  that 
privilege.  Thus  far  all  was  propitious ;  but  a  severe  fever 
prostrated  his  health,  and,  after  his  return  to  Dublin,  a  pre- 
mature marriage  with  one  who  became  the  deservedly-loved 
partner  of  the  joys  and  adversities  of  after-life,  dissolved  his 
connection  with  the  university,  and  gave  a  new  direction  to 
his  career.  By  the  stress  of  circumstances  now  unknown, 
Mr.  Clarke  was  induced  to  turn  his  views  from  the  clerical 
to  the  scholastic  profession.  His  first  idea  was  to  obtain  a 
professorship  in  one  of  the  new  collegiate  establishments  in 
America;  and  for  this  adventure  he  turned  his  patrimony 
into  money,  and  took  a  passage  in  a  vessel  bound  for  this 
continent.  On  the  very  eve  of  embarkation,  his  father,  who 
earnestly  deprecated  the  undertaking,  succeeded  in  dissuad- 
ing him  from  attempting  it.  With  some  still  lingering 
hopes  of  obtaining  Church  preferment,  the  young  scholar 
now  passed  an  anxious  interval,  during  which  his  means  of 
support  were  rapidly  melting  away ;  and  at  length,  as  a 
kind  of  last  resource,  he  applied  for  the  customary  license 


16  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

to  act  as  a  teacher  of  youth,  and  gave  up  the  pulpit  of  the 
clergyman  for  the  desk  of  the  schoolmaster.  His  lot  was 
now  confirmed,  and  the  steady,  earnest,  and  laborious  en- 
deavors which  gave  a  character  to  his  remaining  life,  mani- 
fest an  unswerving  resolution  to  acquit  himself  of  its  re- 
sponsibilities. The  school  appears  to  have  been  generally 
well  attended,  and  by  the  children  of  all  ranks  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. The  young  people  bent  their  steps  in  a  morning 
to  the  common  place  of  learning,  alike  from  the  cottage,  the 
rectory,  and  the  hall.  Dr.  Barnard,  afterward  bishop  of 
Killaloe,  and  of  Limerick,  was  at  that  time  rector  of  the 
parish,  and  confided  his  own  son  to  the  care  -of  Mr.  Clarke, 
among  whose  scholars  there  were  not  a  few  who  in  after 
years  filled  the  situations  of  clergymen,  (whether  Episcopal, 
Popish,  or  Presbyterian,)  medical  men,  lawyers,  and  school- 
masters. Dr.  Clarke  used  to  say,  that  there  were  few 
priests,  clergymen,  surgeons,  or  lawyers,  of  those  resident 
in  the  north  of  Ireland,  who  had  not  been  educated  by  his 
father.  And  yet,  from  the  extremely  low  charges  then  cus- 
tomary for  education,  the  diligent  labors  of  this  able  and 
conscientious  teacher  yielded  but  a  poor  return  for  the  sup- 
port of  his  family.  The  highest  charge  for  a  range  of  in- 
struction which  comprehended  the  mathematics,  and  the 
classics,  both  Latin  and  Greek,  was  seven  shillings  per 
quarter;  while  the  primary  elements  of  school  knowledge 
were  rendered  at  the  lowly  price  of  fourpence,  twopence, 
and  even  three  halfpence  per  week.  It  may  be  conjectured, 
therefore,  that  the  temporal  concerns  of  the  family  were  the 
reverse  of  affluent.  The  worthy  schoolmaster  knew  all 
about  the  res  angusta  domi.  The  mind  both  of  father  and 
mother  seems  to  have  been  shadowed  by  almost  habitual 
care ;  and  the  children,  as  Adam  once  expressed  it,  "  neither 
fared  sumptuously  every  day,  nor  was  their  clothing  purple 
and  fine  linen." 

Mrs.  Clarke  was  of  Scotch  origin,  a  descendant  of  the 
M'Leans  of  Mull,  in  the  Hebrides — a  hardy  race,  remarka- 
ble for  muscular  strength.  A  brother  of  Mrs.  Clarke,  the 


PARENTAGE  AND  CHILDHOOD.         17 

Rev.  I.  M'Lean,  "  could  bend  iron  bars  with  a  stroke  of  his 
arm ;  roll  up  large  pewter  dishes  like  a  scroll  with  his  fin- 
gers ;  and,  when  traveling  through  Bovagh-wood,  (a  place 
through  which  his  walks  frequently  lay,)  he  has  been  known 
to  pull  down  the  top  of  an  oak-sapling,  twist  it  into  a  withe 
by  the  mere  strength  of  his  arms  and  fingers,  and,  thus 
working  it  down  in  a  spiral  form  to  the  earth,  leave  it  with 
its  root  in  the  ground  for  the  astonishment  of  all  that  might 
pass  by."* 

One  day,  dining  at  an  inn  with  two  officers,  who  wished 
to  be  witty  at  the  parson's  expense,  he  said  something  which 
had  a  tendency  to  check  their  self-confidence.  One  of  them, 
considering  his  honor  affected,  said :  "  Sir,  were  it  not  for 
your  cloth,  I  would  oblige  you  to  eat  the  words  you  have 
spoken."  Mr.  M'Lean  rose  up  in  a  moment,  took  oft*  his 
coat,  rolled  it  up,  and  threw  it  under  the  table  with — "  Di- 
vinity, lie  there ;  and,  M'Lean,  do  for  thyself."  Saying  it, 
he  seized  the  foremost  of  the  heroes  by  the  cuff  of  the  neck 
and  the  waistband,  and  threw  him  out  of  the  window. 

The  great-grandfather  of  Mrs.  Clarke,  Laughlin  M'Lean, 
was  chief  of  his  clan,  and  laird  of  Dowart.  Dr.  Clarke  ever 
cherished  a  tender  veneration  for  his  mother.  According  to 
his  description,  she  was  not  a  beauty,  but  a  sensible  woman  ; 
something  above  the  average  height,  graceful  in  moving,  and 
remarkably  erect  even  in  old  age.  What  was  better,  she 
was  as  upright  in  principle ;  a  woman  who  feared  God,  and 
whom  his  Holy  Spirit  failed  not,  as  we  shall  see,  to  lead  at 
length  into  the  liberty  of  his  children.  Mrs.  Clarke,  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage,  was  a  decided  Presbyterian ;  her 
husband,  with  equal  strength  of  principle,  an  Episcopalian. 
It  redounds  not  a  little  to  their  honor,  that  these  differences 
never  interfered  with  the  charm  of  that  holy  love  which 
tempered  and  sanctified  the  hardships  of  their  self-denying 
life.  Their  eldest  son,  named  Tracy,  after  his  relative,  the 
Rev.  John  Tracy,  rector  of  Kilcronaghan,  was  bred  to  the 
medical  profession,  Some  passages  in  his  remarkable 

*  Autobiography, 


18  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

history  will  be  noticed  further  on.  Of  their  daughters,  the 
eldest  married  the  Rev.  W.  M.  Johnson,  LL.D.,  rector  of 
St.  Perrans  Uthnoe,  in  Cornwall ;  and  another  became  the 
wife  of  Thomas  Exley,  Esq.,  M.  A.,  of  Bristol. 

ADAM  CLARKE,  the  subject  of  our  memoir,  was  born  at 
Moybeg,  in  the  parish  of  Kilcronaghan,  county  London- 
derry. The  year  of  his  birth  was  either  1760  or  1762.  He 
was  always  uncertain  upon  this  point,  but  inclined  to  the 
first  date.  Though  he  was  baptized  by  his  Uncle  Tracy,  no 
register  of  his  baptism  was  preserved ;  and  Mrs.  Clarke 
herself  could  give  no  decisive  information,  her  own  recollec- 
tion on  the  matter  being  somewhat  confused.  This  is  not 
an  unexampled  instance  of  maternal  forgetfulness.  The 
mother  of  Dr.  Martin  Luther  could  not  certify  the  year  of 
his  birth.  Melancthon,  who  questioned  her  about  it,  records 
that  she  recollected  the  day  and  the  hour  perfectly,  but  had 
forgotten  the  year.*  Mrs.  Clarke's  prevailing  sentiment 
was,  that  her  son  was  born  in  1760.  He  received  the 
Christian  name  of  Adam  at  the  request  of  his  grandparents, 
in  memory  of  a  beloved  son  of  their  own  whom  they  had 
lost  in  early  life.  The  old  people  wished  to  adopt  him  as 
their  own  child,  and  his  first  years  were  passed  under  their 
charge.  Adam  was  a  remarkably  hearty  child ;  at  eight 
months  on  his  feet,  and  a  month  later  walking  about  alone; 
at  three  years  old  sitting  in  the  snow  in  winter,  and  in  the 
summer  wandering  among  the  lanes  and  fields,  and  often 
taking  his  stand  by  a  draw-well,  peering  curiously  into  its 
depths,  as  if  searching  to  know  the  mysteries  beneath. 
When,  at  five  years,  he  took  the  small-pox,  the  child  dis- 
dained the  then  customary  regimen  of  covering  up  the  patient 
in  a  closely  shut  room,  left  his  bed  on  every  opportunity, 
and  ran  away  naked  in  the  open  air.  He  had,  also,  uncom- 
mon strength  for  his  age,  which  his  father  seemed  proud  of 
showing,  setting  the  child  to  roll  large  stones  when  visitors 
came  to  the  house. 

*  Audin,  "  Histoire  de  Luther." 


PARENTAGE  AND  CHILDHOOD.         19 

He  appears  to  have  returned  to  his  father's  care  on  the 
removal  of  the  family  from  Moybeg  to  Maghera,  a  village 
in  the  county  of  Derry,  sixteen  miles  south  of  Coleraine. 
This  was  when  Adam  was  six  years  old.  Two  years  later 
we  find  another  removal  to  Garva,  or  Grove,  a  hamlet 
some  ten  miles  distant.  Here  they  resided  till  about  his 
twelfth  year,  when  their  unsettled  domestic  history  shows 
another  exodus,  to  a  place  called  Ballyaherton,  in  the  parish 
of  Agherton,  some  little  space  from  Coleraine.  It  was  in 
the  first  of  these  transient  resting-places  that  the  future 
commentator  of  the  Bible  became,  though  with  sore  trials  to 
the  flesh  and  spirit,  acquainted  with  the  contents  of  the 
primer.  Unlike  his  bodily  powers,  the  mental  faculties  of 
the  child  were  but  slowly  developed.  He  has  told  us  that 
"  he  found  it  very  difficult  to  acquire  even  the  knowledge  of 
the  alphabet ;"  and  that  his  father,  who  had  set  his  heart 
upon  his  becoming  a  scholar,  strove  to  awaken  his  intellect 
with  harsh  words  and  unseasonable  chastisement.  "  But 
this,"  says  the  doctor,  "  so  far  from  eliciting  genius,  rather 
produced  an  increase  of  hebetude  ;  so  that  himself  began  to 
despair  of  ever  being  able  to  acquire  any  knowledge  by 
means  of  letters.  When,  however,  he  was  about  eight 
years  of  age,  he  was  led  to  entertain  hopes  of  future  im- 
provement from  the  following  circumstance :  A  neighboring 
schoolmaster,  calling  at  the  school  where  Adam  was  then 
endeavoring  to  put  vowels  and  consonants  together,  was 
desired  by  the  teacher  to  assist  in  hearing  a  few  of  the  lads 
their  lessons.  Adam  was  the  last  that  went  up,  not  a  little 
ashamed  of  his  deficiency :  he,  however,  hobbled  through 
his  lesson,  though  in  a  very  indifferent  manner ;  and  the 
teacher  apologized  to  the  stranger,  and  remarked  that  that 
lad  was  a  grievous  dunce.  The  assistant,  clapping  young 
Clarke  on  the  head,  said,  '  Never  fear,  sir ;  this  lad  will 
make  a  good  scholar  yet.'  This  was  the  first  thing  that 
checked  his  own  despair  of  learning,  and  gave  him  hope."  I 
give  this  in  his  own  words,  for  the  sake  of  the  useful  reflec- 
tion which  follows  them  :  "  How  injudicious  Is  the  general 


20  -  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

mode  of  dealing  with  those  who  are  called  dull  boys  !  To 
every  child  learning  must  be  a  task  ;  and  as  no  young  per- 
son is  able  to  comprehend  the  maxim,  that  the  acquisition 
of  learning  will  compensate  the  toil,  encouragement  and 
kind  words  from  the  teacher  are  indispensably  necessary  to 
induce  the  learner  to  undergo  the  toil  of  those  gymnastic 
exercises.  Willful  idleness  and  neglect  should  be  repre- 
hended and  punished ;  but  where  genius  has  not  yet  been 
unfolded,  nor  reason  acquired  its  proper  seat,  the  mildest 
methods  are  the  most  likely  to  be  efficient,  and  the  small- 
est progress  should  be  watched  and  commended,  that  it 
may  excite  to  further  attention  and  diligence.  With  those 
who  are  called  dull  boys,  this  method  rarely  fails.  But 
there  are  few  teachers  that  possess  the  happy  art  of  devel- 
oping genius.  They  have  not  sufficient  penetration  to  find 
out  the  bent  or  characteristic  propensity  of  their  pupils' 
minds,  to  give  them  the  requisite  excitement  or  direction. 
In  consequence,  there  have  been  innumerable  native  dia- 
monds which  have  never  shone,  because  they  have  fallen  into 
such  hands  as  could  not  distinguish  them  from  common  peb 
bles  ;  and  to  them  neither  the  hand  nor  the  art  of  the  lapidary 
has  ever  been  applied.  Many  children,  not  naturally  dull, 
have  become  so  under  the  influence  of  the  schoolmaster."* 

The  elder  Mr.  Clarke  was  a  man* of  right  honest  purpose, 
and  of  resolute  determination.  He  reigned  in  the  school  as 
an  absolute  monarch  in  his  kingdom.  His  juvenile  subjects 
knew  the  man  and  his  communications,  and  worked  with 
the  assurance  that  nothing  short  of  actual  improvement 
would  keep  them  right  with  him.  He  was  their  friend, 
though  a  severe  one.  It  was  their  welfare  he  had  at  heart. 
Goldsmith's  description  of  a  similar  potentate  applies  to 
him  in  this  as  in  other  respects : 

"  Beside  yon  straggling  fence  that  skirts  the  way, 
With  blossom'd  furze  unprofitably  gay, 
There,  in  his  noisy  mansion,  skill'  d  to  rule, 
The  village  ruaster  taught  his  little  school. 

*  Autob'ography. 


PARENTAGE  AND  CHILDHOOD.         21 

A  man  severe  he  was,  and  stern  to  view : 
I  knew  him  well,  and  every  truant  knew. 
Well  had  the  boding  tremblers  learn'd  to  trace 
The  day's  disasters  in  his  morning  face  ; 
Full  well  they  laugh' d,  with  counterfeited  glee, 
At  all  his  jokes,  for  many  a  joke  had  he  ; 
Full  well  the  busy  whisper,  circling  round, 
Convey' d  the  dismal  tidings  when  he  frown'd. 
Yet  he  was  kind  ;  or,  if  severe  in  aught, 
The  love  he  bore  to  learning  was  in  fault." 

The  progress  of  Adam  Clarke's  intellectual  history  will 
have  our  attention  more  fully  hereafter.  The  only  other 
incident  I  shall  mention  here  relates  to  the  manner  in  which 
he  made  his  first  free  outset  in  the  path  of  learning.  And 
this,  as  also  two  or  three  other  critical  passages  in  his  expe- 
rience, we  will  recount  in  his  own  words  :  "As  soon  as 
Adam  got  through  the  '  Reading  made  Easy,'  had  learned 
to  spell  pretty  correctly,  and  could  read  with  tolerable  ease 
in  the  New  Testament,  his  father,  who  wished  if  possible  to 
make  him  a  scholar,  put  him  into  Lily's  Latin  Grammar. 
This  was  new  and  painful  work  to  little  Clarke,  and  he  was 
stumbled  by  almost  the  first  sentence  which  he  was  ordered 
to  get  by  heart,  not  because  he  could  not  commit  it  to  mem- 
ory, but  because  he  could  not  comprehend :  '  In  speech  be 
these  eight  parts  following  :  noun,  pronoun,  verb,  participle, 
declined  ;  adverb,  conjunction,  preposition,  interjection,  un- 
declined.'  He,"  however,  "committed  this  to  memory,  and 
repeated  it,  and  many  of  its  fellows,  without  understanding 
one  tittle  of  the  matter ;  and  as  the  understanding  was  not 
instructed,  the  memory  was  uselessly  burdened.  The 
declensions  of  nouns  were  painful,  but  he  overcame  them  ; 
and  the  conjugations  of  verbs  he  got  more  easily  through. 
'•Propria  quce  maribus"1  he  got  through  with  difficulty,  at  two 
lines  each  lesson.  With  the  'As  in  prcesenti'1  of  the  same 
ponderous  Grammar  he  was  puzzled  beyond  measure ;  he 
could  not  understand  the  'Bo^bi;  do/rfdi ;  mo/*ui,'etc., 
and  could  by  no  means  proceed.  Of  the  reason  or  proba- 
ble utility  of  such  things  he  could  form  no  judgment;  and  at 
last  it  became  so  intolerable,  that  he  employed  two  whole 


22  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

days  and  part  of  a  third,  in  fruitless  endeavors  to  commit 
to  memory  two  lines,  with  their  construction,  of  what  ap- 
peared to  him  useless  and  incomprehensible  jargon.  His 
distress  was  indescribable,  and  he  watered  his  book  with  his 
tears.  At  last  he  laid  it  by  with  a  broken  heart,  and  in 
utter  despair  ofever  being  able  to  make  any  progress.  He 
took  up  an  English  Testament,  sneaked  into  an  English 
class,  and  rose  with  them  to  say  a  lesson.  The  master 
perceiving  it  said,  m  a  terrific  tone,  '  Sir,  what  brought  you 
here?  Where  is  your  Latin  Grammar1?'  He  burst  into 
tears,  and  said  with  a  piteous  voice,  '  I  cannot  learn  it.'  He 
had  now  reason  to  expect  all  the  severity  of  the  rod;  but 
the  master,  getting  a  little  moderate,  perhaps  moved  by  his 
tears,  contented  himself  with  saying,  '  Go,  sir,  and  take  up 
your  Grammar.  If  you  do  not  speedily  get  that  lesson,  I 
shall  pull  your  ears  as  long  as  Jowler's,  [a  great  dog  belong- 
ing to  the  premises,]  and  you  shall  be  a  beggar  till  the 
day  of  your  death !'  These  were  terrible  words,  and  seemed 
to  express  the  sentence  of  a  ruthless  and  unavoidable  destiny. 
He  retired  and  sat  down  by  the  side  of  a  young  gentleman 
with  whom  he  had  been  in  class,  but  who,  unable  to  lag 
behind  with  his  dullness,  requested  to  be  separated,  that  he 
might  advance  by  himself.  He  was  received  with  the  most 
bitter  taunts  :  '  What,  have  you  not  learned  that  lesson  yet  ? 
O  what  a  stupid  ass  !  You  and  I  began  together ;  you  are 
now  only  in  As  in  prcesenti,  and  I  am  in  syntax ;'  and  then, 
with  cruel  mockery,  he  began  to  repeat  the  last  lesson  he 
had  learned.  The  effect  of  this  was  astonishing.  Adam  was 
roused  as  from  a  lethargy ;  he  felt,  as  he  expressed  himself, 
as  if  something  had  broken  within  him  ;  his  mind  in  a  mo- 
ment was  all  light.  Though  he  felt  indescribably  mortified, 
he  did  not  feel  indignant.  'What!'  said  he  to  himself, 
'  shall  I  ever  be  a  dunce,  and  the  butt  of  these  fellows' 
insults  ?'  He  snatched  up  his  book,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
committed  the  lesson  to  memory;  got  the  construction 
speedily  ;  went  up,  and  said  it  without  missing  a  word ; 
took  up  another  lesson,  acquired  it  almost  immediately,  said 


PARENTAGE  AND  CHILDHOOD.  23 

this  also  without  a  blemish,  and  in  the  course  of  that  day 
wearied  the  master  with  his  so  often  repeated  returns  to 
say  lessons,  and  committed  to  memory  all  the  Latin  verses, 
with  their  English  construction,  in  which  heavy  and  tedious 
Lily  has  described  the  four  conjugations,  with  their  excep- 
tions, and  so  forth.  Nothing  like  this  had  appeared  in 
the  school  before.  The  boys  were  astonished ;  admiration 
took  the  place  of  mockery ;  and  from  that  hour — it  may  be 
said  from  that  moment — he  found  his  memory  at  least 
capable  of  embracing  every  subject  that  was  brought  before 
it,  and  his  own  long  sorrow  was  turned  into  joy."* 

At  Agherton  a  new  church  had  been  built,  and  the  old 
one,  which  is  now  a  ruin,  was  appropriated  as  the  school 
for  the  parishioners'  children.  Within  those  venerable 
walls  Adam  pursued  his  juvenile  studies,  and  now  made 
rapid  progress  in  classical  and  mathematical  learning. 
Waiving,  however,  all  further  references  for  the  present  to 
his  intellectual  culture,  we  will  note  a  few  circumstances  in 
his  physical  education,  which  seem  to  have  been  intended  by 
Providence  to  form  his  constitution  for  the  toils  which  were 
destined  to  fill  the  history  of  his  future  years.  The  mode 
of  living  to  which  the  family  were  compelled  by  their  penu- 
rious income  was  severely  economical.  The  hungry  boy 
was  made  thankful  for  a  supply  of  the  plainest  food,  and 
learned,  poor  youth,  to  become  patient  under  the  bodily 
trials  of  hunger  and  thirst.  In  the  matter  of  raiment  also, 
he  was  but  thinly  clad,  and,  after  the  habits  of  the  rustic 
folk  in  Ireland,  went  frequently  without  a  covering  for  the 
head  or  feet.  The  intervals  of  school  lessons  were  filled 
up  by  such  sports  as  boys  become  familiar  with  in  the 
country,  or  were  spent  more  frequently  in  hard  work  in  the 
garden  or  the  fields.  To  eke  out  the  scanty  revenue  of  the 
school,  his  father  rented  a  small  farm  in  the  neighborhood, 
which  took  up  much  of  his  spare  time,  and  called  into  exer- 
cise the  growing  strength  of  his  two  sons.  It  was  a  pleas- 
ant reminiscence  of  Dr.  Clarke's,  that  his  father,  more  in 

*  Autobiography. 


24  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLAKKE. 

the  spirit  of  a  classical  scholar  than  of  a  plodding  matter-of- 
lact  iarmer,  wished  to  cultivate  his  grounds  upon  the  princi- 
ples laid  down  in  the  Georgics  of  Virgil.  In  recording  this 
recollection,  the  Doctor  remarks  that  his  father  did  not  ap- 
pear to  have  calculated  "  that  the  agricultural  rules  of  that 
elegant  work  were  in  many  respects  applicable  only  to  the 
soil  and  climate  of  Italy;"  and  that  "to  apply  them  to  a 
widely  different  climate,  and  to  a  soil  extremely  dissimilar, 
lat.  55  N.,  was  not  likely  to  bring  about  the  most  beneficial 
results."  We  should  think  not ;  and  the  worthy  scholar 
might  have  gathered  such  a  conclusion  from  the  first  lessons 
of  his  favorite  pastoral : — 

"  At  prius  ignotumforro  qudm  scindimus  cequor, 
Ventos  et  iiarium  cceli  prcediscere  morem, 
Cura  sit,  ac  patrios  cultusque  habitusqve  locorwn  ; 
Et  quid  quwqueferat  regio,  et  quid  qu&que  recuset. 
Hie  segretes,  illic  veniunt  felicius  utiae, : 
Arborei  foetus  alibi,  atque  injussa,  viresevnt 
Gramina.    Nonne  aides,  eroceos  ut  Tmolns  odores, 
India  mittit  ebur,  molles  sua  thura  Sabcei  ?" — GEORG.  i. 

"  But  ere  we  stir  the  yet  unbroken  ground, 

The  various  course  of  seasons  must  be  found : 

The  weather,  and  the  setting  of  the  winds, 

The  culture  suiting  to  the  various  kinds 

Of  seeds  and  plants,  and  what  will  thrive  and  rise, 

And  what  the  genius  of  the  soil  ^denies: 

This  ground  with  Bacchus,  that  with  Ceres  suits  ; 

That  other  loads  the  trees  with  happy  fruits ; 

A  fourth  with  grass  unbidden  decks  the  ground. 

Thus  Tmolus  is  with  yellow  saffron  crown'd, 

India  black  ebon  and  white  ivory  bears, 

And  soft  Idume  weeps  her  odorous  tears. 

This  is  the'  original  contract ;  these  the  laws 

Imposed  by  nature,  and  by  nature's  cause." 

In  these  labors  of  the  mind  and  body  all  the  lad's  natural 
powers  were  called  into  full  exercise,  and  grew  with  his 
growth.  In  summer  the  household  were  all  astir  at  four  in 
the  morning,  and  in  winter  long  before  daylight.  Each 
season  had  its  appropriate  toil,  each  hour  its  duty,  and  the 
hour-glass  in  the  cottage  was  turned  twelve  times  every  day 
before  any  one  in  the  family  was  permitted  to  go  to  rest. 


PARENTAGE  AND  CHILDHOOD.         25 

Little  Adam,  if  at  seven  years  of  age  he  could  do  no  harder 
work,  was  able  to  take  care  of  the  cows,  and  bring  them 
home  at  milking-time.  When  big  enough,  he  took  his  part 
in  sheep-shearing;  and  at  twelve  he  essayed  the  plow,  and 
was  thrown  among  the  horses'  feet,  by  the  share  coming  into 
contact  with  a  hidden  rock.  He  was  great  at  peat-cutting, 
and  could  keep  two  persons  employed  in  piling  and  carrying 
the  fuel  as  fast  as  he  digged  it.  Nor  was  he  a  little  proud 
of  the  strength  of  hand  with  which  he  sent  the  wheat-seed 
broadcast  over  the  furrowed  soil.  I  wonder  whether  the 
child  had  any  dawning  conception  at  the  time,  that  these 
employments  were  symbolical  of  the  labors  of  distant  years, 
in  which,  having  put  his  hand  to  another  plow,  he  would 
be  able,  with  power  given  from  on  high,  to  break  up  the 
fallow  ground  of  men's  hearts,  go  forth  to  sow  the  seed 
which  bears  its  harvests  to  eternal  life,  and,  as  an  under 
shepherd,  tend  the  flock  of  the  Lord's  redeemed. 

Here  is  an  incident  which  discovers  some  shrewdness  in  a 
boy  of  ten  years  old :  He  had  been  sent  by  his  mother,  near 
nightfall,  on  an  errand  which  required  him  to  cross  a  waste 
piece  of  country  lying  toward  the  sea,  a  great  part  of  which 
was  a  soft  marsh.  Darkness  came  on  apace,  and  along  with 
it  a  thick  fog.  In  the  depths  of  this  mist  the  boy  found 
himself  bewildered ;  and,  to  increase  his  uncertainty,  an 
ignis  fatuus  rose  up  before  him,  and  filled  him  with  no 
small  dismay.  He  retreated,  but  it  followed  him.  It 
would  not  be  evaded,  whether  he  turned*  to  the  right  hand 
or  to  the  left.  Meanwhile,  by  these  attempts  to  escape 
from  this  strange  phantom,  of  which  he  had  heard  many  an 
ill-omened  story,  he  had  entirely  lost  the  bearing  of  the 
place  he  was  so  anxious  to  arrive  at ;  and  the  bog  abounded 
with  dangerous  depths,  into  some  one  of  which  he  knew  he 
might  sink  the  very  next  step.  Thus  haunted  without,  by 
the  fairy  flame,  and  within,  by  growing  terror,  he  suddenly 
heard  a  strong  whirring  sound  near  him  in  the  air.  He  had 
roused  a  flock  of  wild  ducks.  He  could  not  see  them,  but 
the  noise  of  their  invisible  wings  supplied  him  with  the 


26  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

guide  he  wanted.  He  knew  their  haunts  by  the  sea ;  and, 
conjecturing  that  they  would  now  make  for  these,  resolved 
to  follow  in  the  direction  they  had  flown.  He  was  so  cor- 
rect in  this  judgment  as  to  emerge  at  length  from  the  bog, 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  house  where  his  errand  was  to  be 
done. 

Among  the  exercises  to  which  he  was  addicted,  horse- 
manship also  afforded  him  a  vast  delight.  He  would  some- 
times ride  down  to  the  shore,  and,  plunging  with  the  animal 
through  the  surf,  breast  the  waves  with  a  long  swim  outward. 
Once  swimming  alone,  a  considerable  distance  from  the 
shore,  he  found  that  he  had  unintentionally  gone  out  too  far, 
and  that  the  tide,  which  swells  there  with  great  force,  was 
opposed  to  his  return.  He  recruited  his  exhausted  strength 
by  lying  on  his  back,  though  at  the  expense  of  being  carried 
further  away  to  sea,  and  then,  with  the  most  resolute  effort, 
was  enabled  by  the  mercy  of  Providence  once  more  to  touch 
the  land. 

The  neighborhood  of  the  sea  afforded  him  also,  and  his 
father  as  well,  the  profitable  pursuits  of  the  fisherman.  His 
father  was  a  great  lover  of  the  sport,  and  Adam,  whether 
with  him  or  alone,  fished  in  the  Moyola  and  the  creeks  of 
the  Bann ;  so  that  often,  and  especially  in  the  salmon  season, 
the  table  at  home  smoked  with  the  produce  of  their  healthy 
and  legitimate  recreations. 

These  hardy  exercises  were  not,  however,  without  their 
dangers.  On  one  occasion  he  was  thrown  with  such  violence 
from  a  horse  as  to  be  taken  up  for  dead ;  and  on  another 
his  life  was  more  nearly  lost  by  drowning.  In  this  latter 
case,  it  was  always  his  own  opinion  that  life  had  really  be- 
come extinct,  and  that  he  experienced  a  renewal  of  earthly 
existence  by  a  return  of  the  soul  from  the  world  of  spirits. 
It  was  one  morning,  when  he  rode  a  mare  of  his  father's  into 
the  sea  to  bathe  her.  The  sea  was  not  rough,  and  the 
morning  very  fine;  and  he  thought  he  might  ride  beyond 
the  breakers,  as  the  shore  in  that  place  was  smooth  and  flat. 
The  mare  went  with  great  reluctance,  and  plunged  several 


PARENTAGE  AND   CHILDHOOD.  27 

times.  He  urged  her  forward,  and  at  last  got  beyond  the 
breakers,  into  the  swells  ;  one  of  these  coming  with  terrible 
force,  when  it  was  too  late  to  retreat,  overwhelmed  both 
rider  and  horse.  There  was  no  person  in  sight,  and  no  help 
at  hand.  He  said  afterward,  that  he  seemed  to  go  to  the 
bottom  with  his  eyes  open,  and  then,  with  neither  apprehen- 
sion nor  pain,  entered  on  the  consciousness  of  perfect  tran- 
quillity and  happiness,  not  derived,  indeed,  from  anything 
around  him,  but  from  the  inward  state  of  his  own  mind. 
(An  account  of  this  singular  experience  was  given  by  Dr. 
Clarke,  long  years  after,  in  a  sermon  preached  in  aid  of  the 
Royal  Humane  Society  ;  and  with  more  minute  particulars 
in  a  conversation  with  the  late  Dr.  Letsom.  The  whole  is, 
probably,  too  well  known  to  need  transcription  here.)  A 
ground-swell  bore  his  apparently  lifeless  body  to  the  shore. 
The  first  sensation,  when  he  came  to  life,  was  as  if  a  spear 
had  been  run  through  his  heart.  He  felt  this  in  getting  the 
first  draught  of  fresh  air,  when  the  lungs  were  merely  infla- 
ted by  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere.  He  found  himself 
sitting  in  the  water,  and  it  was  by  a  very  swelling  wave 
that  he  had  been  put  out  of  the  way  of  being  overwhelmed 
by  any  of  the  succeeding  ones.  The  intense  pain  at  his 
heart,  however,  still  continued ;  but  he  had  felt  no  pain  from 
the  moment  he  was  submerged  till  the  time  when  his  head 
was  brought  above  water,  and  the  air  once  more  entered 
into  his  lungs.  He  saw  the  mare  at  a  considerable  distance, 
walking  quite  leisurely  along  the  shore.  How  long  he  was 
submerged,  cannot  be  precisely  affirmed ;  but  sufficiently- 
long,  in  his  own  ever  retained  opinion,  to  have  been  com- 
pletely dead,  never  more  to  breathe  in  this  world,  had  it  not 
been  for  that  Providence  which,  as  it  were,  once  more 
breathed  into  him  that  breath  of  life,  and  caused  him  to  be- 
come once  more  a  living  soul.  If  Wesley  in  his  childhood 
was  rescued  from  the  flame,  that,  as  "  a  brand  plucked  from 
the  burning,"  he  might  glorify  God  in  a  life  devoted  to  his 
service,  Clarke  in  a  yet  more  striking  manner  was  delivered 
from  the  flood,  that  he  too  might  in  his  kindred  sphere  mag 


28  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

nify  the  same  great  Protector,  who  has  said.  "  When  thou 
passest  through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with  thee  ;  and  through 
the  rivers,  they  shall  not  overflow  thee ;  when  thou  walkest 
through  the  fire,  thou  shalt  not  be  burned  ;  neither  shall  the 
flame  kindle  upon  thee ;  for  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel,  thy  Saviour." 

These  short  recitals  will  suffice  to  indicate  the  manner  of 
Adam  Clarke's  outward  life  in  the  season  of  his  youth  ;  and 
how  Providence  was  fitting  him,  by  its  discipline,  for  a  ca- 
reer which  demanded  patience  in  suffering,  and  perseverance 
in  toil.  When  far  on  his  way,  in  the  retrospect  of  this  early 
stage  of  his  pilgrimage  he  acknowledged  this,  and  gave 
thanks  to  God  for  the  hardy  manner  in  which  he  had  been 
brought  up;  "My  heavenly  Father  saw  that  I  was  likely 
to  meet  with  many  rude  blasts  in  journeying  through  life, 
and  he  prepared  me  in  infancy  for  the  lot  he  destined  for 
me ;  so  that,  through  his  mercy,  I  have  been  brought  from 
childhood  up  to  hoary  hairs.  He  knew  that  I  must  walk 
alone  through  life,  and  therefore  set  me  on  my  feet  right 
early,  that  I  might  be  qualified  by  practice  for  the  work  I 
was  appointed  to  perform." 


REGENERATE.  29 


CHAPTEE  II. 

BEGEISTEKATE. 

WE  are  admonished  by  St.  Paul,  that  a  work  wrought  in 
the  mind  by  the  Spirit  of  God  can  only  be  understood  by 
those  who  are  spiritually  minded.  There  are  men  enough, 
not  only  among  the  shallow  and  unlearned,  but  among  the 
erudite  and  intellectual,  to  whom  the  statements  we  are  to 
make  in  this  chapter  would  seem  mere  foolishness ;  while 
the  Christian  discerns  in  them  the  sure  and  intelligible  evi- 
dences of  a  Divine  intervention,  and  the  practical  tokens  of 
that  great  redeeming  design  which  has  brought  our  sin-in- 
fected and  perishing  nature  under  an  economy  of  regenerating 
grace.  Our  present  task,  however,  is  not  to  battle  with  the 
prejudices  of  the  world,  but  to  give  the  details  of  this  work 
of  mercy  in  such  plain  words  of  truth  as  may  tend  to  edify 
the  believer,  and  to  light  the  steps  of  the  sincere  inquirer  to 
the  path  of  peace. 

The  grace  of  God,  which  bringeth  salvation,  dawned  upon 
the  mind  of  Adam  Clarke  with  the  morning  hour  of  life,  and 
preoccupied  his  heart  with  a  disposition  toward  the  holy  and 
the  Divine.  Some  of  the  child's  first  thoughts  were 

"  Thoughts  that  wander  through  eternity." 

Let  us  heat  him  recount  a  reminiscence  of  those  first  days: 
"  Near  where  Mr.  Clarke  lived  was  a  very  decent  orderly 
family  of  the  name  of  Brooks,  who  lived  on  a  small  farm. 
They  had  eleven  children,  some  of  whom  went  to  Mr. 
Clarke's  school ;  one,  called  James,  was  the  tenth  child,  a 
lovely  lad,  between  whom  and  little  Adam  there  subsisted 
a  strong  attachment.  One  day,  when  walking  hand  in  hand 
in  a  field  near  the  house,  they  sat  down  on  the  bank,  and 


30  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

began  to  enter  into  a  very  serious  conversation.  They  both 
became  much  affected,  and  this  was  deepened  into  exquisite 
distress  by  the  following  observations  made  by  little 
Brooks  :  '  O  Addy,  Addy,  what  a  dreadful  thing  is  ETER- 
NITY !  and  how  dreadful  to  be  put  into  hell-fire,  and  to  be 
burned  there  for  ever  and  ever  ! '  They  both  wept  bitterly, 
and,  as  they  could,  begged  God  to  forgive  their  sins ;  and 
they  made  to  each  other  strong  promises  of  amendment, 
and  departed  from  each  other  with  full  and  pensive 
hearts. 

"  I  was  then  truly  and  deeply  convinced  that  I  was  a  sin- 
ner, and  liable  to  eternal  punishment,  and  that  nothing  but  the 
mercy  of  God  could  save  me  from  it ;  though  I  was  not  so 
conscious  of  any  other  sin  as  that  of  disobedience  to  my 
parents,  which  at  that  time  affected  me  most  forcibly. 
When  I  left  my  little  companion  I  went  home,  told  the 
whole  to  my  mother  with  a  full  heart,  expressing  the  hope 
that  I  should  never  more  say  any  bad  words,  or  refuse  to 
do  what  she  or  my  father'  might  command.  She  was  both 
surprised  and  affected,  and  gave  me  much  encouragement, 
and  prayed  heartily  for  me.  With  a  glad  heart  she  com 
municated  the  information  to  my  father,  on  whom  I  could  see 
it  did  not  make  the  same  impression ;  for  he  had  little 
opinion  of  pious  resolutions  in  childish  minds,  though  he 
feared  God,  and  was  a  serious,  conscientious  Churchman. 
I  must  own  that  the  way  in  which  he  treated  it  was  very 
discouraging  to  my  mind,  and  served  to  mingle  impressions 
with  my  serious  feelings  that  were  not  friendly  to  their  per- 
manence. Yet  the  impression,  though  it  grew  faint,  did  not 
wear  away.  It  was  deep  laid  in  the  consideration  of  eter- 
nity, and  of  my  accountableness  to  God  for  my  conduct,  and 
the  absolute  necessity  of  enjoying  his  favor,  that  I  might 
never  taste  the  bitter  pains  of  eternal  death.  Had  I  had  any 
person  to  point  out  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world,  I  believe  I  should  then  have  been  found 
as  capable  of  repentance  and  faith  (my  youth  and  circum- 
stances considered)  as  I  ever  was  afterward.  But  I  hud  no 


EEGENERATE.  31 

such  helper,  no  '  messenger,'  '  one  among  a  thousand,'  who 
could  show  man  his  righteousness." 

The  neighborhood  in  which  he  lived  had  not  at  the  time 
the  privilege  of  the  plain  Gospel.  The  inhabitants  were 
chiefly  of  the  Protestant  confession,  and  were  pretty  equally 
divided  between  the  Established  and  Presbyterian  commun- 
ions. The  rector  of  Agherton  was  the  Kev.  Mr.  Smith,  "  a 
good  man,  full  of  humanity  and  benevolence,"  who  preach- 
ed the  truth  so  far  as  he  knew  it ;  "  but  on  the  way  in 
which  a  sinner  is  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  he  was  either  not 
very  clear,  or  was  never  explicit."  On  the  other  hand,  in 
the  Presbyterian  congregation,  "  the  trumpet  gave  a  very 
uncertain  sound,  as  both  pastor  and  people  were  verg- 
ing closely  on  Socinianisin."  We  do  not  wonder,  then,  that 
"  a  general  forgetfulness  of  God  prevailed  in  the  parish," 
and  that  "  there  was  scarcely  a  person  in  it  decidedly  pious, 
though  there  were  several  that  feared  God,  and  but  few  who 
were  grossly  profane." 

The  religious  state  of  the  Clarkes,  as  a  family,,  partook  at 
*;hat  time  of  the  general  tone.  An  old  friend  of  theirs,  the 
Rev.  Henry  Moore,  speaking  of  them  as  he  knew  them  in 
nis  juvenile  days,  says  :  "  The  family  were  what  is  gener- 
ally called  a  good  sort  of  people,  honest  people,  clearing 
their  way  by  sober  industry.  They  thought  they  must  be 
good  in  order  to  go  to  heaven,  and  had  a  wholesome  fear  of 
being  found  wicked.  They  likewise  embraced  the  common 
forms  of  religion."  The  schoolmaster  of  Agherton  was  a 
steady  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  but  not  strongly 
awake  to  the  importance  of  vital  religion,  nor  savingly 
enlightened  with  an  experimental  knowledge,  of  its  consola- 
tions and  hopes.  But  his  worthy  and  faithful  wife,  albeit  a 
stranger  (like  himself)  to  the  refined  enjoy  n.ents  of  personal 
godliness,  seems  to  have  had  a  deeper  sen  se  than  he  of  the 
need  of  that  which  they  had  not  yet  attained.  Her  mind 
was  habitually  serious,  and  her  whole  conduct  in  the  train- 
ing of  the  family  betokened  an  earnest  solicitude  for  their 
everlasting  welfare.  Like  many  other  great  and  good  men, 


32  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

Dr.  Clarke  owed  an  unspeakable  debt  to  his  mother  for  the 
influence  she  exerted  over  the  formation  of  his  character. 
Looking  back  on  these  pristine  days,  he  said  on  one  occa- 
sion, "  For  my  mother's  religious  teachings,  I  shall  have 
endless  reason  to  bless  my  Maker."  She  was  the  instru- 
ment of  imprinting  on  his  conscience  those  ethical  convic- 
tions which  in  aftertime  germinated,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
into  great  and  fruitful  virtues.  She  would  garnish  and 
fortify  her  instructions  with  pithy  adages,  which  her  chil- 
dren's memories  never  lost.  Was  the  conversation,  for 
example,  about  the  transient  nature  of  this  life's  affairs  ? 
she  would  conclude  with, 

"  Thus  we  may  say,  Come  weal  or  wo, 
It  will  not  be  always  so :" 

like  the  motto  that  the  eastern  legend  tells  us  king  Solo 
mon  furnished  for  a  brother  monarch,  who  requested  of  him 
some  sentiment  which,  inscribed  on  his  ring,  should  be 
suited  to  cheer  him  under  misfortune,  and  to  temper  his  joy 
in  the  season  of  prosperity :  "This  also  shall  pass  away!" 

But  the  treasury  from  which  our  good  mother  drew  her 
choicest  gems  to  enrich  the  minds  of  the  children,  was  the 
written  word  of  God ;  and  in  the  matter  of  discipline,  and 
the  infliction  of  punishment,  it  was  often  found  that  a  text 
of  Scripture,  well  applied,  did  infinitely  better  execution 
than  the  rod.  Dr.  Clarke  says  that  his  mother  "  had  read 

the  Bible  with  great  care  and  much  profit And    if 

the  children  did  wrong  at  any  time,  she  had  recourse  to  it 
uniformly,  to  strengthen  her  reproofs,  and  to  deepen  the 
conviction.  With  the  Scriptures  she  was  so  conversant  and 
ready,  that  there  was  scarcely  any  delinquency  for  the  con- 
demnation of  which  she  could  not  find  a  portion.  She 
seemed  to  find  them  at  the  first  opening,  and  would  gener- 
ally say,  'See  what  God  has  guided  my  eye  to  in  a 
moment.'  Her  own  reproofs  her  children  could  in  some 
measure  bear  ;  but  when  she  had  recourse  to  the  Bible  they 
were  terrified,  such  an  awful  sense  had  they  of  the  truth  of 
God's  word  and  the  majesty  of  the  Author.  Adam  one 


REGENERATE.  33 

day  disobeyed  his  mother,  and  the  disobedience  was  accom- 
panied with  some  look  or  gesture  that  indicated  an  under- 
valuing of  her  authority.  This  was  a  high  affront :  she 
immediately  flew  to  the  Bible,  and  opened  on  these  words, 
which  she  read  and  commented  upon  in  a  most  awful  man- 
ner: 'The  eye  that  mocketh  his  father,  and  despiseth  to 
obey  his  mother,  the  ravens  of  the  valley  shall  pick  it  out, 
and  the  young  eagles  shall  eat  it.'  The  poor  culprit  was 
cut  to  the  heart,  believing  the  words  had  been  sent  imme- 
diately from  heaven.  He  went  out  into  the  field  with  a 
troubled  spirit,  and  was  musing  on  this  horrible  denuncia^ 
tion  of  Divine  displeasure,  when  the  hoarse  croak  of  a 
raven  sounded  to  his  conscience  an  alarm  more  terrible  than 
the  cry  of  fire  at  midnight.  He  looked  up,  and  perceived 
the  ominous  bird,  and  actually  supposing  it  to  be  the  raven 
uf  which  the  text  spoke,  he  took  to  flight  with  the  greatest 
perturbation.*" 

Dr.  Clarke  imagines  that  the  severe  Puritanic  creed 
which  his  mother  had  derived  from  the  Scotch  Calvinists, 
led  her  more  frequently  to  represent  the  Supreme  Being  as 
a  God  of  justice  than  as  the  God  of  mercy.  The  consequence 
was,  the  children  dreaded  God,  and  obeyed  only  through 
fear.  Yet,  perhaps,  this  was  the  way  to  awaken  in  the 
minds  of  the  young  a  sense  of  responsibility,  and  an  assur- 
ance that  retribution  will  ever  track  the  footsteps  of  guilt. 

To  the  faithful  admonitions  of  this  stern  but  loving  in- 
structress, her  son  ever  attributed,  under  God.  that  fear  of 
the  Divine  Majesty  which  prevented  him  from  taking 
pleasure  in  sin.  "  My  mother's  reproofs  and  terrors  never 
left  me  till  I  sought  and  found  the  salvation  of  God.  And 
sin  was  generally  so  burdensome  to  me,  that  I  was  glad  to 
hear  of  deliverance  from  it.  She  had  taught  me  such  rever- 
ence for  the  Bible,  that  if  I  had  it  in  my  hand  even  for  the 
purpose  of  studying  a  chapter  to  repeat  as  a  lesson,  and 
had  been  disposed  with  my  class-fellows  to  sing,  whistle  a 
tune,  or  be  facetious,  I  dared  not  do  either  while  the  book 
*  Autobiography. 

3  • 


34:  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

was  open  in  my  hands.  In  such  cases  I  always  shut  it  and 
laid  it  down  beside  me.  Who  will  dare  to  lay  this  to  the 
charge  of  superstition  ?"  The  boy  was  right.  Would  that 
all  men  were  like-minded  ! 

No  sight  has  a  greater  sacredness  and  beauty  than  that 
of  a  devout  mother  leading  her  child  to  God  in  prayer.  It 
was  Adam's  privilege  to  have  a  mother  who  could  pray  for 
him,  and  with  him,  and  teach  him  to  pray  for  himself.  As 
soon  as  the  children  could  speak,  she  taught  them,  in  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  to  call  God  "  our  Father."  As  they  grew 
older,  they  were  instructed  to  ask  his  blessing  on  their 
parents  and  relatives.  The  evening  devotions  of  the  elder 
ones  included  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  occasionally  a  versi- 
fied Collect,  which  the  doctor  remembered  to  his  latest  day  : 

AT  MORNING  PRAYER. 
"  Preserve  ine,  Lord,  amid  the  crowd, 
From  every  thought  that's  vain  and  proud ; 
And  raise  my  wandering  mind  to  see 
How  good  it  is  to  trust  in  thee. 
From  all  the  enemies  of  thy  truth, 
Do  thou,  0  Lord,  preserve  my  youth ; 
And  raise  my  mind  from  worldly  cares, 
From  youthful  sins  and  youthful  snares. 
Lord,  though  my  heart 's  as  hard  as  stone, 
jjct  seeds  of  early  grace  be  sown. 
Still  water'd  by  thy  heavenly  love. 
Till  they  spring  up  in  joys  above." 

AT  EVENING. 

•'  I  go  to  my  bed  as  to  my  grave, 

And  pray  to  God  my  life  to  save  ; 

But,  if  I  die  before  I  wake, 

I  pray  to  God  my  soul  to  take. 

Sweet  Jesus,  now  to  theo  I  cry, 

To  grant  me  mercy  ere  I  die  ; 

To  grunt  me  mercy,  and  send  me  peace, 

That  heaven  may  be  my  dwelling-place." 

CONCLUSION. 
"  Give  to  the  Father  praise, 

And  glory  to  the  Son, 
And  to  the  Spirit  of  his  grace 

Be  equal  honor  don*1." 


REGENERATE.  35 

These  compositions,  it  must  be  confessed,  are  homely 
enough ;  but  they  were  made  for  home  use,  whoever  wrote 
them.  Adam  Clarke  always  entertained  a  fund  attachment 
to  them.  "  They  contain,"  said  he,  "  the  first  breathings  of 
my  mind  toward  God ;  and  even  many  years  after  I  had 
known  his  power  to  my  salvation,  I  continued  to  repeat 
them  as  long  as  I  could  with  propriety  use  the  term  youth." 

When  on  Sundays  Mrs.  Clarke  held  a  little  service  with 
her  children,  in  addition  to  a  portion  of  catechism,  she 
would  read  a  chapter,  sing  part  of  a  psalm,  offer  a  prayer, 
and  then  fix  their  minds  on  some  important  sentence  in  the 
chapter,  making  them  repeat  the  words ;  a  method  which 
secured  their  attention,  and  imbned  their  minds  more 
thoroughly  with  the  truth. 

"  The  world,"  in  the  sinister  import  of  that  term ;  "  the 
"  flesh,"  as  denoting  the  bondage  of  our  nature  to  corrupt 
propensions ;  and  "  the  devil,"  as  the  name  for  the  great 
tempter  and  accuser  of  mankind,  may,  with  the  man  who 
yields  acquiescent  obedience  to  their  impulses,  be  regarded 
as  words  only  ;  but  he  who  has  begun  to  struggle  against 
the  tide  which  is  bearing  the  other  to  perdition  unawares, 
and  who  will  clean  escape  their  corruptions,  will  speedily 
learn  that  these  words  are  but  the  names  of  mighty 
realities,  whose  antagonism  to  his  salvation  he  can  only 
overcome  by  the  mightier  power  of  God.  Now.  even  in  the 
^ciuded  part  of  Ireland  where  Adam  Clarke  was  brought 
up,  the  world  could  offer  him  seductions,  which,  if  yielded  to, 
could  not  have  failed  to  enlist  him  among  her  votaries,  and 
lead  him  from  depth  to  depth  in  sin.  One  form  which  these 
temptations  took  was  the  pleasure  he  found  in  the  amuse- 
ment of  dancing.  The  years  of  mere  childhood  were  passed, 
and  he  was  a  growing  youth.  He  had  learned  to  play 
on  the  violin,  and  becoming  fond  of  music,  joined  a  class 
who  took  lessons  from  a  master.  There  was  another  in  the 
neighborhood  who  gave  lessons  in  dancing  as  well  as  music. 
Adam's  master,  "willing  to  .stand  on  equal  ground  with  his 
competitor,  proposed  to  his  pupils  to  divide  the  usual  hours 


36  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

into  two  parts ;  to  teach  singing  in  the  former,  and  dancing 
in  the  latter.  This  brought  him  several  additional  scholars, 
and  the  school  went  on  much  to  his  advantage.  At  first 
Adam  despised  this  silly  adjunct  to  what  he  always  deemed 
of  great  importance,  and  for  a  considerable  time  took  no 
part  in  it.  At  length,  through  much  persuasion,  his  stead- 
fastness was  overcome.  By  long  looking,  the  thing  began 
to  appear  harmless ;  by  and  by,  graceful ;  and  lastly,  an 
elegant  accomplishment.  It  was  now,  '  Cast  in  your  lot 
with  us.'  He  did  so ;  and,  as  it  was  always  a  maxim  with 
him  to  do  whatever  he  did  with  his  might,  he  bent  much  of 
his  attention  to  this,  and  soon  became  superior  to  most  of 
his  schoolfellows.  Formerly  he  went  to  the  school  for  the 
sake  of  the  singing,  now  he  went  most  for  the  sake  of  the 
dancing :  leaving  his  understanding  uninfluenced,  it  took  fast 
hold  of  his  passions.  If  prevented  at  any  time  from  going, 
he  felt  uneasy,  sometimes  vexed,  and  often  cross  ;  his  temper 
in  such  cases  being  rarely  under  his  own  control." 

"Mala  uve"  says  he,  "  when  about  thirteen  years  of  age, 
I  learned  to  dance.  I  long  resisted  all  solicitations  to  it,  but 
at  last  I  suffered  myself  to  be  overcome,  and  learned  and 
profited  beyond  most  of  my  fellows.  I  grew  passionately 
fond  of  it;  would  scarcely  walk  but  in  measured  time,  and 
was  constantly  tripping,  moving,  £nd  shuffling,  in  all  times 
and  places.  I  began  now  to  value  myself,  which,  as  far  as  I 
n\r\  "eoollect.  I  had  never  thought  of  before.  1  grew  impa- 
tient of  control,  became  fond  of  company,  wished  to  mingle 
more  than  I  had  ever  done  with  young  people.  I  got,  also, 
a  passion  for  better  clothing  than  that  which  fell  to  my  lot 
in  life,  and  was  discontented  when  I  found  a  neighbor's  son 
dressed  better  than  myself.  I  lost  the  spirit  of  subordina- 
tion, did  not  love  work,  imbibed  a  spirit  of  idleness,  and  in 
short,  drank  in  all  the  brain-sickening  effluvia  of  pleasure. 
Dancing  and  company  took  the  place  of  reading  and  stuJy ; 
and  the  authority  of  my  parents  was  feared  indeed,  but  not 
ivs|>ccted.  And  few  serious  impressions  could  prevail  in  a 
mind  imbued  now  with  frivolity.  Yet  I  entered  into  no 


REGENERATE.  37 

disreputable  assembly,  and  in  no  one  case  ever  kept  any 
improper  company.  Nevertheless,  dancing  was  with  me  a 
perverting  influence,  an  unmixed  moral  evil ;  for,  although 
by  the  mercy  of  God  it  led  me  not  to  depravity  of  manners, 
it  greatly  weakened  the  moral  principle,  drowned  the  voice 
of  conscience,  and  was  the  first  cause  of  impelling  me  to 
seek  my  happiness  in  this  life.  Everything  yielded  to  the 
disposition  it  had  produced,  and  everything  was  absorbed  by 
it.  I  have  it  justly  in  abhorrence  for  the  moral  injury  it 
did  me ;  and  I  can  testify,  (as  far  as  my  own  observa- 
tions have  extended,  and  they  have  had  a  pretty  wide  range,) 
I  have  known  it  to  produce  the  same  evil  in  others.  I 
consider  it,  therefore,  as  a  branch  of  that  worldly  education 
which  leads  from  heaven  to  earth,  from  things  spiritual  to 
things  sensual,  and  from  God  to  Satan.  Let  them  plead  for 
it  who  will ;  I  know  it  to  be  evil,  and  that  only.  They  who 
bring  up  their  children  in  this  way,  or  send  them  to  those 
schools  where  dancing  is  taught,  are  consecrating  them  to  the 
service  of  Moloch,  and  cultivating  the  passions  so  as  to  cause 
them  to  bring  forth  the  weeds  of  a  fallen  nature  with  an  ad- 
ditional rankness,  deep-rooted  inveteracy,  and  inexhaustible 
fertility.  Nemo  sobrius  saltat,  'No  man  in  his  senses  will 
dance,'  wrote  Cicero,  a  heathen.  Shame  on  those  Christian 
parents  who  advocate  a  cause  by  which  many  sons  have 
become  profligate,  and  many  daughters  have  been  ruined  !"* 
This  temptation,  however,  had  not  a  lasting  power  ;  and 
before  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  had  got  entirely  free 
from  the  dangerous  snare.  His  love  of  mental  cultivation 
returned  with  greater  force ;  and  that  vigor  of  intellect 
which  gave  such  a  character  to  his  future  life,  began  now  to 
move  him  with  impulses  after  knowledge  which  throbbed  011 
with  his  life,  and  kindled  that  unquenchable  desire  that  led 
him  to  separate  himself  to  intermeddle  with  all  wisdom. 
From  a  mere  child  he  had  been  a  great  reader  of  tales  and 

*  Autobiography.  See,  too,  a  paper  written  on  this  subject  by  Dr. 
Clarke,  in  the  Arminian  Magazine  for  1792  ;  reprinted  in  his  Miscellane- 
ous "Works. 


38  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

books  of  imagination  suited  to  his  years,  for  some  of  which, 
as  the  History  of  the  Seven  Wise  Masters,  the  Seven 
Champions  of  Christendom,  Robinson  Crusoe,  the  Peruvian 
Tales,  and  the  Thousand  and  One  Nights,  he  always  main- 
tained a  kind  of  grateful  affection,  not  only  for  the  enter- 
tainment they  had  given  him,  but  for  the  strength  they  had 
imparted  to  his  mental  instinct  to  seek  pleasure  in  the 
region  of  the  intellect,  and  the  communion  they  had  opened 
to  him  with  things  that  lie  beyond  the  immediate  province 
of  the  senses.  But  now,  with  the  enlargement  of  his  mind, 
he  felt  the  need  of  a  higher  and  more  congenial  aliment,  and 
a  satisfying  acquaintance  with  the  realities  of  truth.  But, 
for  want  of  a  proper  guide,  he  was  even  here  in  danger  of 
taking  a  wrong  track 'at  the  outset.  With  a  mind  charac- 
teristically eager  in  investigation,  he  was  not  content  to 
read  such  books  as  expounded  the  outward  phenomena  of 
nature,  but  longed  to  penetrate,  also,  the  arcana  of  the 
spiritual  world.  He  had  a  notion  that  it  was  possible  to  attain 
such  a  knowledge  of  those  unseen  agencies  which  reveal  their 
effects  in  the  appearances  of  the  outward  world,  as  would 
enable  the  possessor  of  it  to  wield  those  agencies  according 
to  his  own  will ;  that  men  once  lived  who  had  won  this 
secret,  and  that  some  might  even  then  be  living  who  enjoy- 
ed it.  He  had  heard  that  among  the  gipsies  many  vestiges 
of  this  precious  lore  were  handed  down  from  father  to  son  ;- 
and  learning  that  a  wandering  party  of  that  singular  people 
had  pitched  their  little  camp  at  a  distance  of  some  miles,  he 
sallied  forth  in  quest  of  them.  After  some  ingratiating 
talk,  ho  told  them  what  he  had  come  for.  The  conversa- 
tion which  followed  was  highly  satisfactory;  for  he  found, 
to  his  great  joy,  that  they  had  at  least  a  great  part  of  a 
book  for  a  sight  of  which  he  had  been  devoured  by  desire, 
the  Occult  Philosophy  of  Cornelius  Agrippa.  The  gipsies 
were  not  disposed  to  part  with  these  precious  sybilline 
leaves,  but  gave  him  full  permission  to  read  them  on  the 
spot,  and  make  whatever  extracts  he  pleased.  Adam  made 
full  proof  of  his  opportunity ;  and  day  by  day,  so  long  as 


REGENERATE.  39 

the  wanderers  haunted  that  part  of  the  country,  he  might 
have  been  seen  in  their  out-of-the-way  retreat,  with  ink- 
bottle  and  note-book,  appropriating  in  unspeakable  eager- 
ness the  hieratic  secrets  of  the  great  master.     The  pleasure 
afforded  by  these  excursions  was  enhanced  by  the  memory 
of  a  sore  disappointment  he  had  undergone  some  time  before, 
when,  being  informed  that  a  certain  schoolmaster  who  lived 
many  miles  away,  had  a  copy  of  Cornelius  Agrippa  in  his 
library,  he  made  a  pilgrimage  for  the  purpose  of  borrowing 
it,  or  at    least   of  inspecting  it,  but  met  with  a  decisive 
refusal.     On  that  occasion  (we  mention  it  to  show  the  lad's 
eagerness  in  this  pursuit)  his  mother  had  attempted  to  dis- 
suade him  from  going,  as  the  distance  was  great,  and  the 
way  unknown.     "Never  fear,  mother,"  said  he,  "I   shall 
find  it  well  enough."     "  But  you  will  be  so  weary  by  the 
time  you  get  there,  that  you  will    not  have  strength  to 
return."     To  which  he  answered :  "  Never  fear,  mother ;  if  I 
can  get  there,  and  get  the  book,  I  hope  to  get  as  much  out 
of  it  as  will  bring  me  home  without  touching  the  ground." 
On  the  influence  which  these  early  impulses  had  upon 
his  mind  in  following  years,  we  shall  have  to  write  here- 
after.    But,  even  at  this  inexperienced  period  of  life,  his 
own  good  sense,  and  a  reverential  fear  of  being  guilty  of 
what  was  unlawful  in  the  sight  of  God,  tamed  in  his  soul 
the  inordinate  desire  after  a  species  of  knowledge  which  is 
either  forbidden,  or  injurious  to  him  who  employs  it,  when 
obtained.     A  paper  he  read  in  an  odd  volume  of  the  Athe- 
nian Oracle,  which  he  met  with  about  that  time,  made  a 
wholesome  impression  on  his  mind,  and  contributed  to  set 
it  in  a  more  profitable  direction.     Pie  had  quieted  some 
misgivings  on  the  subject  of  spiritual   incantations  by  the 
thought,  that  what  was  done  in  these  ways  was  done  ^ith 
reference  to,  and  dependence  on,  the  power  of  God.      By 
his  terrible  name  all  spirits  were  to  be  invoked,  employed, 
bound,  or  loosed.     But  the  writer  in  the  Athenian  Oracle, 
to   the  question,  "Is  that  magic   lawful  whose  operations 
are  performed  in  the  name  of  God,  and  by  solemn  invoca- 


40  LIFE   OF    ADAM   CLARKE. 

Jions  of  his  power  ?"  gave,  by  way  of  answer  in  the  nega- 
tive, the  quotation  from  the  Gospel  where  our  Lord  has  de- 
clared, "  Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have 
we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  in  thy  name  have  cast 
out  devils,  and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works'? 
And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you ;  de- 
part from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity."  Warned  off,  then, 
from  this  enchanted  ground,  Adam  betook  himself,  though 
(it  must  be  confessed)  not  without  some  lingering  and  look- 
ing back,  into  the  more  open  and  honest  fields  of  actual 
knowledge.  In  the  excellent  works  of  Ray,  on  the  Wisdom 
of  God  in  the  Creation,  and  of  Derham,  on  Astro-Theology, 
he  found  a  clue  to  the  true  physico-theology,  and  was  led 
by  those  great  masters  "  from  nature  up  to  nature's  God." 
He  sought  the  Eternal  where,  in  one  of  his  ways  of  reve- 
lation, he  is  willing  to  make  himself  known — namely,  in 
his  works.  Though  not  at  that  time  in  the  language  of  one 
who  became  a  favorite  sage  in  other  years,  he  could  yet  say 
with  him  in  effect,  "  Waken  my  faculties  to  behold  thee, 
and  to  gaze,  with  the  vision  of  the  heart,  on  thy  grandeurs ; 
and  teach  me  to  make  known  thy  wondrous  acts ;  for  I  see 
thy  name  in  the  works  of  thy  hands.  The  heavens  are 
moving  in  lines  of  measure,  the  spheres  revolve  in  their  or- 
bits ;  among  them  the  earth  has  4ier  abiding-place,  she  is 
suspended  by  the  bands  of  thy  love.  The  sun  shining  in 
his  might,  the  moon  pouring  silver  streams  as  from  a  fount- 
ain, clusters  of  stars  like  flowers  in  a  garden,  the  outspread 
pavilion  of  the  skies,  and  the  variegated  landscapes  of  the 
world,  all  speak  of  thy  deep  wisdom."  *  Thus  the  things 
that  are  seen  became  to  him  a  heart-stirring  memento  of 
the  ever-present  Deity.  The  heavens  at  night  spoke,  and 
told  him  how  great  is  God ;  the  spheres  sang ;  the  deep 
down  on  the  shore,  as  he  stood  on  the  rocks,  was  heard  lift- 

*ABKN  ESBA,  Sephardim  Machasor.  Compare  the  beautiful  words 
of  Schiller  :  "  His  mime  ought  to  lie  in  secret  behind  every  one  of  our 
thoughts,  and  speak  to 'us  from  every  object  of  nature  ;  for  us  this  bright 
majestic  universe  itself  should  be  but  us  the  shining  jewel  on  which  his 
image,  nnd  only  his,  should  stand  engraved." 


REGENERATE.  41 

ing  up  a  voice  in  the  great  chorus.  "  His  praise  the  winds, 
that  from  four  quarters  blew,  breathed  soft  or  loud ;"  and 
the  pine-woods  waved  their  tops,  with  every  plant,  in  sign 
of  worship.  Already  the  future  commentator  was  musing 
on  that  text,  "  The  invisible  things  of  Him  from  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the 
things  that  are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead." 
But  the  time  was  at  hand  when  he  should  no  longer  stand 
wondering  in  the  outer  court  of  the  Great  Unseen,  but  be 
admitted  within  the  temple  of  salvation,  and  worship  and 
serve  him  with  them  who  have  access  to  the  Deity  him- 
self; for  God,  who  commanded  light  to  shine  out  of  dark- 
ness, was  about  to  shine  into  his  heart,  to  give  him  to  be- 
hold his  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  have  had 
occasion  to  allude  to  the  low  state  of  religion  in  the  neigh- 
borhood where  Adam  Clarke  then  lived ;  but  it  was  by  no 
means  so  bad  as  that  which  was  found  in  many  other  parts 
of  the  three  kingdoms.  A  much  deeper  ignorance  shrouded 
the  myriads  of  the  Irish  Catholic  population ;  nor  were  the 
peasantry  of  England  more  enlightened ;  while,  in  the  more 
crowded  towns  and  cities,  vice  and  immorality  prevailed  in 
frightful  measures.  On  the  Continent  the  state  of  things 
was  infinitely  worse.  European  Christendom  had  reached 
the  zero  of  apostasy ;  Voltairism  had  come  like  an  evil  blast 
upon  the  people ;  and  the  shadow  of  atheism  fell,  colder 
than  death,  upon  the  millions.  But  God  was  now  revealing 
in  our  land  his  signal  mercy.  There  was  the  voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  desert,  "  Repent ;  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand."  The  Gospel  had  become  a  freshly-uttered  ora- 
cle from  heaven.  The  sower  had  gone  forth  to  sow ;  the 
Sun  of  righteousness,  breaking  through  the  clouds,  shed 
healing  beams ;  and  the  showers  of  heavenly  influence  gath- 
ered over  his  path.  WESLEY  was  then  fulfilling  his  course, 
and  approaching,  indeed,  the  consummation  of  that  illus- 
trious career  in  which  he  had  been  made  the  instrument  of 
wondrous  good,  not  only  in  our  island  home,  but  across  the 
ocean  too  in  the  distant  lands  of  the  West.  The  agencies 


42  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

of  Methodism  were  becoming  more  extensive  and  more 
potent  every  year ;  and,  in  the  order  of  a  merciful  Provi- 
dence, some  of  the  devoted  men  who  toiled  in  the  great 
work  were  led  to  visit  the  hamlets  and  villages  of  the  north 
of  Ireland. 

The  Clarkes  had  hitherto  known  nothing  of  these  men. 
A  stray  anecdote  of  one  of  them,  which  Adam  met  with 
in  a  newspaper,  gave  him  the  first  intimation  of  their  exist- 
ence. One  day  it  was  rumored  in  the  neighborhood  that 
there  would  be  preaching  that  evening  at  a  farm-place,  called 
Burnside;  a  barn,  with  a  cottage  attached  to  it.  Adam 
went,  along  with  a  companion  of  his,  a  son  of  Counselor 
O'Neil.  It  was  now  that  he  saw  for  the  first  time  a  Method- 
ist preacher,  (John  Brettell,)  a  tall  thin  man,  with  serious- 
looking  countenance,  and  long  hair.  Adam  heard  the  ser- 
mon with  inward  reasonings,  and  not  without  some  feeling. 
His  mind  seemed  to  be  drawn  to  the  man,  and  when  the 
service  was  over  he  lingered  near  him.  The  preacher 
turned,  and  with  deep  solemnity  exhorted  him  to  give  him- 
self to  God.  Adam  was  so  far  impressed  as  to  wish  to 
hear  this  doctrine  more  largely.  He  seized  the  first  occa- 
sion, and  heard  Mr.  Brettell  again.  The  text  was,  "  Behold, 
I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock."  The  effect  of  this  sermon 
was  to  show  him  that  the  consequence  of  slighting  the  call 
of  mercy  would  be  everlasting  ruin.  Meanwhile  the  preach- 
ers stationed  at  Coleraine  had  made  arrangements  for  regu- 
larly visiting  that  neighborhood  as  a  part  of  their  circuit ; 
and  Mr.  Brettell  was  followed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Barber,  a 
truly  apostolic  man,  under  whose  ministry  a  multitude  of 
people  in  various  parts  of  the  country  had  been  awakened 
to  repentance.  Mrs.  Clarke  herself  was  now  induced  to  at- 
tend. She  heard,  and  immediately  pronounced,  "  This  is 
the  doctrine  of  the  Reformers;  this  is  true  and  unadul- 
terated Christianity."  The  Lord  had  opened  her  heart  to 
receive  his  truth,  and  she  forthwith  opened  her  dwelling  to 
its  messengers,  where,  from  time  to  time,  they  found  a  wel- 
come resting-place,  and  brought  the  blessing  of  their  Master 


REGENERATE.  43 

with  them  ;  for  salvation  came  to  that  house.  Mrs.  Clarke 
now  joined  the  newly-formed  society.  As  for  Adam, 
though  not  violently  affected,  he  had  become  seriously  bent 
on  the  salvation  of  his  soul.  Anxious  to  hear  the  Gospel 
at  every  opportunity,  he  rose  at  four  in  the  morning  to  com- 
plete his  day's  work,  so  as  to  be  able  to  go  here  and  there 
in  the  evening  to  listen  to  the  word ;  and  his  chief  study 
now,  in  the  intervals  he  could  spare  from  toil,  was  the  ex- 
amination of  what  he  heard  by  the  test  of  the  written  word 
of  God,  "searching  the  Scriptures  daily,  whether  these 
things  were  so."  In  short,  he  had  now  matriculated  in  the 
school  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  which  alone  the  divine  or  the 
Christian  can  be  formed  ;  and  he  sat  at  the  feet  of  a  Master 
who  could  make  him  wise  to  salvation.  His  Scripture 
reading  had  hitherto  been  desultory  ;  but  he  now  began  to 
read  the  New  Testament  regularly  through,  and  that  with 
deep  attention  and  earnest  prayer.  One  consequence  was, 
his  mind  became  enlightened  to  comprehend  the  analogy  of 
the.  faith ;  the  great  redeeming  plan  so  harmonious  with 
itself  and  with  all  truth.  From  these  oracles  of  the  living 
God  he  learned  his  creed,  and  never  changed  it.  Another 
and  yet  more  important  consequence  was,  he  was  gradually 
enabled  to  lay  hold  upon  the  truth,  thus  revealed,  with  that 
faith  of  the  heart  which  made  him  a  new  creature.  The 
Spirit  was  working  his  great  work  of  mercy  in  his  soul ; 
convincing  him  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  judgment ;  awak- 
ening him  alike  to  a  sense  of  guilt,  and  a  despair  of  escaping 
its  punishment,  if  left  to  his  own  bankrupt  resources.  "  All 
his  past  diligence,  prayer,  reading,  and  so  forth,  now  ap- 
peared as  nothing ;  multitudes  of  evils,  which  before  were 
undiscovered,  were  now  pointed  out  to  his  conscience  as 
with  a  sunbeam.  He  was  filled  with  confusion  and  distress ; 
wherever  he  looked,  he  saw  nothing  but  himself.  The  light 
which  penetrated  his  mind  led  him  into  all  the  chambers  of 
the  house  of  imagery ;  and  everywhere  he  saw  idols  set  up 
in  opposition  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God.  He  wished 
to  flee  from  himself,  and  looked  with  envy  on  stocks  and 


44  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

stones ;  for  they  had  not  offended  a  just  God,  and  were 
incapable  of  bearing  his  displeasure. 

"  The  season  was  summer  time.  The  fields  were  in  their 
beautiful  dress  ;  the  flocks  and  herds  browsed  in  the  pas- 
tures, and  the  birds  caroled  in  the  sky  and  in  the  woods ; 
but  his  eyes  and  ears  were  no  longer  inlets  to  pleasure.  In 
point  of  gratification,  nature  was  to  him  a  universal  blank, 
for  he  felt  himself  destitute  of  the  image  and  approbation  of 
his  Maker ;  and  besides  this  consciousness  there  seemed  to 
be  needed  no  other  to  complete  his  misery.  He  said,  with 
one  of  old,  '  O  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  him,  that  I 
might  come  even  to  his  seat !  Behold,  I  go  forward,  but  he  is 
not  there ;  and  backward,  but  I  cannot  perceive  him ;  on  the 
left  hand,  where  he  doth  work,  but  I  cannot  behold  him  ;  he 
hideth  himself  on  the  right  hand,  that  I  cannot  see  him.'"* 

Let  us  not  be  told  here  anything  about  moody  melan- 
choly or  ignorant  fanaticism.  There  is  not  a  vestige  of 
fanaticism  in  the  case.  Here  is  a  young  man  of  education, 
sound  in  health,  steady  in  nerves,  vigorous  in  intellect,  and, 
so  far  as  outward  morality  is  concerned,  of  well-regulated 
and  virtuous  habits  of  life ;  but  thoughtful  betimes  of  the 
great  question  which  sooner  or  later  shakes  every  human 
soul — How  can  a  fallen  sinner  be  reconciled  to  God  ?  The 
Bible  is  in  his  hand,  and  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit  shining 
in  his  conscience.  Can  we  wonder,  then,  at  his  solicitude  ? 
He  had  within  himself  a  dread  sense  of  wrongness  before 
his  Divine  Judge ;  and  the  all-absorbing  care  of  his  heart 
was,  "  How  can  I  be  set  right  ?"  Was  not  this  a  rational 
inquiry  ?  Who  is  the  insane  fanatic ;  the  man  who  in  these 
circumstances,  common  to  us  all,  asks  the  question,  "  What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  or  he  who  willfully  ignores  it  ? 

He  who  would  be  saved  feels  the  need  of  THE  SAVIOUR  ; 
and  whatever  interferes  with  the  clear  view  of  the  Divine 
majesty  and  power  of  the  adorable  Being  who  is  revealed  in 
the  Gospel  in  that  most  blessed  character,  will  interfere  with 
that  man's  salvation.  With  such  an  obstacle  Adam  Clarke 

*  Autobiography. 


REGENERATE.  46 

had  just  now  to  contend,  through  painful  doubts  on  the  Di- 
vinity of  Jesus  Christ,  which  some  Unitarian  acquaintances 
of  his  had  thrown  upon  his  mind.  But  in  his  well  read  New 
Testament  he  had  the  infallible  antidote  to  this  evil,  and  he 
overcame  it.  He  found  also  sonle  help  to  faith  in  partaking 
for  the  first  time  of  the  holy  communion  ;  but  still  he  could 
not  lay  hold  on  the  promises  of  God,  so  as  to  be  delivered 
from  those  fears  of  perdition  which  sometimes  rose  within 
him  like  an  agony.  In  after  days  he  saw  the  value  and  pur- 
pose of  those  exercises.  "  It  was  necessary  that  I  should  have 
hard  travail.  God  was  preparing  me  for  an  important  work. 
I  must  emphatically  sell  all  to  get  the  pearl  of  great  price. 
If  1  had  lightly  come  by  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel,  I 
might  have  let  them  go  as  lightly.  It  was  good  that  I  bore 
the  yoke  in  my  youth.  The  experience  that  I  learned  in  my 
long  tribulation  was  none  of  the  least  of  my  qualifications 
as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel." 

At  length,  however,  the  day  of  deliverance,  the  "  time  of 
finding,"*  came.  He  had  been  brought  to  that  point  in 
which,  had  it  been  longer  delayed,  the  spirit  that  God  had 
made  would  have  failed  before  him.  We  shall  be  most 
sure  in  giving  the  recital  in  his  own  words  : 

"  One  morning,  in  great  distress  of  soul,  he  went  out  to 
his  work  in  the  field.  He  began,  but  could  not  proceed,  so 
great  was  his  mental  anguish.  He  fell  down  on  his  knees 
on  the  earth,  and  prayed,  but  seemed  to  be  without  power 
or  faith.  He  arose  and  endeavored  to  work,  but  could  not ; 
even  his  physical  strength  seemed  to  have  departed  from 
him.  He  again  endeavored  to  pray  ;  but  the  gates  of  heaven 
appeared  as  if  barred  against  him.  His  faith  in  the  atone- 
ment, so  far  as  it  concerned  himself,  was  almost  entirel  v 
gone;  he  could  not  believe  that  Jesus  had  died  for  him; 
the  thickest  darkness  seemed  to  gather  round  and  settle  on 
his  soul.  He  fell  fiat  on  his  face  on  the  earth,  and  endeav- 
ored to  pray,  but  still  there  was  no  answer ;  he  arose,  but 
he  was  so  weak  that  he  could  scarcely  stand.  His  agonies 

*  Psalm  xxxii,  6,  margin. 


46  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

were  indescribable;  he  seemed  to  be  forever  separated  from 
God  and  the  glory  of  his  power.  Death,  in  any  form,  he 
could  have  preferred  to  his  present  feelings,  if  that  death 
coutd  put  an  end  to  them.  No  fear  of  hell  produced  those 
terrible  conflicts.  He  had  not  God's  approbation ;  he  had 
not  God's  image.  He  felt  that  without  a  sense  of  his  favor 
he  could  not  live.  Where  to  go,  what  to  say,  and  what  to 
do,  he  found  not ;  even  the  words  of  prayer  at  last  failed ; 
he  could  neither  plead  nor  wrestle  with  God.  .  .  .  It  is  said 
the  time  of  man's  extremity  is  the  time  of  God's  opportuni- 
ty. He  now  felt  strongly  in  his  soul,  'Pray  to  Christ;' 
another  word  for,  '  come  to  the  holiest  through  the  blood  of 
Jesus.'  He  looked  up,  confidently,  to  the  Saviour  of  sin- 
ners. His  agony  subsided,  his  soul  became  calm.  A  glow 
of  happiness  thrilled  through  his  frame  ;  all  guilt  and  con- 
demnation were  gone.  He  examined  his  conscience,  and 
found  it  no  longer  a  register  of  sins  against  God.  He  look- 
ed to  heaven,  and  all  was  sunshine  ;  he  searched  for  his  dis- 
tress, but  could  not  find  it.  He  felt  indescribably  happy, 
but  could  not  tell  the  cause  ;  a  change  had  taken  place  with- 
in him  of  a  nature  wholly  unknown  before,  and  for  which 
he  had  no  name.  He  sat  down  upon  the  ridge  where  he 
had  been  working,  full  of  ineffable  delight.  He  praised  God. 
His  physical  strength  returned,  and  he  could  bound  like  n 
'•IM>.  He  had  felt  a  sudden  transition  from  darkness  to 
light,  from  guilt  and  oppressive  fear  to  confidence  and  peace. 
He  could  now  draw  nigh  to  God  with  more  confidence  than 
he  could  to  his  earthly  father ;  he  had  freedom  of  access, 
and  freedom  of  speech.  He  was  like  a  person  who  had  got 
into  a  new  world,  where,  although  every  object  was  strange, 
yet  each  was  pleasing ;  and  now  he  could  magnify  God  for 
his  creation,  a  thing  he  never  could  do  before.  0  what  .1 
change  was  here  !  and  yet,  lest  he  should  be  overwhelmed 
with  it,  its  name  and  its  nature  were  in  a  great  measure 
hiiMc.n  from  his  eyes.  Shortly  after  this,  Mr.  Barber  came 
to  his  father's  house  ;  when  he  departed,  Adam  accompanied 
him  a  little  on  the  way.  When  they  came  in  sight  of  the 


HKGENERATE.  47 

field  that  had  witnessed  the  agonies  of  his  heart,  and  the 
breaking  of  his  chains,  he  told  Mr.  Barber  what  had  taken 
place.  The  man  of  God  took  off  his  hat,  and,  with  tears 
flowing  down  his  cheeks,  gave  thanks  to  God.  '  O  Adam,' 
said  he,  '  I  rejoice  in  this.  I  have  been  in  daily  expectation 
that  God  would  shine  upon  your  soul,  and  bless  you  with 
the  adoption  of  his  children.'  Adam  stared  at  him,  and 
said  within  himself,  '  0,  he  thinks,  surely,  that  I  am  justi- 
fied, that  God  has  forgiven  my  sins,  that  I  am  now  his  child. 
O,  blessed  be  God !  I  believe,  I  feel  I  am  justified,  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Jesus.'  Now  he  clearly  saw  what 
God  had  done ;  and  though  he  had  felt  the  blessing  before, 
and  was  happy  in  the  possession  of  it,  it  was  only  now  that 
he  could  call  it  by  its  name.  Now  he  saw  and  felt,  that 
'  being  justified  by  faith,  he  had  peace  with  God  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  he  had  received  the  atonement.' 

"  He  continued  in  peace  all  the  week.  The  next  Lord's 
day  there  was  a  love-feast  in  Coleraine  :  he  went  to  it,  and 
during  the  first  prayer  kneeled  in  a  corner  with  his  face  to 
the  wall.  While  praying,  the  Lord  Jesus  seemed  to  appear 
to  the  eyes  of  his  mind,  as  he  is  described,  (Rev.  i,  13,  14,) 
'  clothed  with  a  garment  down  to  the  foot,  and  girt  about  the 
paps  with  a  golden  girdle ;  his  head  and  his  hair  white  as 
snow,  and  his  eyes  like  a  flame  of  fire.'  And  though  in 
strong  prayer  before,  ne  suddenly  stopped  and  said,  though 
not  pernaps  in  a  voice  to  be  heard  by  those  who  were  by 
him,  '  Come  nearer,  O  Lord  Jesus  !'  Immediately  he  felt 
as  if  God  had  shone  upon  the  work  he  had  wrought, 
and  called  it  by  its  own  name.  He  fully  and  clearly 
knew  that  he  was  a  child  of  God ;  the  Spirit  bore  this  wit- 
ness in  his  conscience,  and  he  could  no  more  have  doubted 
of  it  than  he  could  the  reality  of  his  own  existence. 
'  Meridian  evidence  put  doubt  to  flight.'  "* 

Adam  Clarke,  having  thus  found  the  liberty  of  God's 
children,  felt  a  powerful  instinct  in  his  heart  to  enjoy  com- 
munion with  them  of  whom  he  could  now  say,  "  Their 

*  Autobiography. 


48  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

Father  is  my  Father ;  and  their  God  my  God."  He 
accordingly  lost  no  time  in  becoming  a  member  of  the 
"Methodist  Society ;  thus  at  once  giving  his  heart  to  God, 
and  his  hand  to  his  cause  and  people.  Some  months  before 
he  had  accompanied  his  mother  to  her  class-meeting,  but 
was  not  at  that  time  in  such  a  state  of  mind  as  to  render 
the  manner  in  which  the  hour  was  spent  sufficiently  attract- 
ive to  induce  him  to  repeat  the  visit.  Now,  a  great  change 
had  been  wrought  in  this  respect  also ;  for  his  heart  had 
become  as  theirs,  and  his  name  took  its  place  in  their  regis- 
tries, to  abide  in  them  forever.*  This  was  the  right  pro- 
cedure. Had  he  remained  aloof  fromv^he  Church,  as  too 
many  do  in  similar  cases,  he,  as  they  do,  would  have 
deprived  himself  of  a  divinely  appointed  means  of  succor 
for  the  mind  in  the  temptations  of  life,  and  would  probably 
have  failed,  after  all,  of  the  grace  of  God.  But  he  looked 
at  the  Christian  Church  as  a  Divine  institution,  and  felt  it 
his  duty  to  God,  to  man,  and  to  himself  to  be  identified 
with  it.  And  to  what  part  of  it  should  he  so  naturally 
unite  himself  as  to  that  which  had  been  the  means  of  his 
conversion1?  And  in  doing  this,  it  was  the  steadfast  con- 
viction of  his  long  life  he  had  done  rightly.  Unlike  the 
weak-minded  and  worldly,  he  was  not  to  be  warned  off 
from  the  fulfillment  of  a  grand  duty  by  the  vain  bugbear  of 
a  name.  On  the  contrary,  if  there  were  any  reproach  in 
bearing  the  name  of  "  Methodist,"  he  was  the  more  willing 
U>  bear  it  for  the  love  which  now  reigned  in  his  heart  to 
Him  who  was  called  the  Nazarene. 

I  have  before  me  an  autograph  memorandum  inserted  on 
the  title-page  of  his  old  copy  of  the  Minutes  of  Conference, 
in  these  words :  "  I  joined  society  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1778,  at  Mullihical,  near  Coleraine.  Adam  Clarke."  If 
born  in  1760,  he  must,  therefore,  at  the  time  of  these  trans- 

*  lie  gives  an  important  testimony,  in  one  of  hia  letters,  to  the  value 
of  class-meetings.:  "  When  I  met  in  class,  I  learned  more  in  a  week  than 
1  had  learned  before  in  a  month.  I  understood  the  preaching  better; 
and  getting  acquaintance  with  my  own  heart,  and  hearing  the  experience 
of  God's  people,  I  soon  got  acquainted  with  God  himself." 


REGENERATE.  49 

actions,  have  been  in  his  eighteenth  year.  We  doubt  not 
that  the  alliance  he  was  then  enabled  to  make  with  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ  helped  to  preserve  him  from  the  seductions 
of  the  world,  which  become  at  that  period  so  potent  to  the 
young,  as  well  as  to  confirm  his  best  tendencies  to  insure 
his  final  salvation,  and  meanwhile  to  introduce  his  uncertain 
steps  into  a  pathway  which  led  to  a  great  and  good  career. 
And  so  long  as  he  found  pleasantness  and  peace  in  the 
company  of  them  whose  "  fellowship "  was  "  with  the 
Father,  and  with  his  Son  Christ  Jesus,"  he  was  led  by  the 
same  Spirit,  and  enabled  to  maintain  his  confidence  in  the 
mercy  which  had  forgiven  him.  The  witness  of  the  Divine 
Comforter  proved  not  a  transient  but  a  perennial  grace. 
He  had  come  to  abide ;  and  the  day-star  had  risen  upon  his 
heart  with  an  unsetting  light,  to  bring  that  knowledge  of 
salvation  through  the  remission  of  sins  which  became  the 
strength,  the  glory,  and  the  joy  of  his  life ;  "  a  staff  when  he 
was  weary,  a  spring  when  he  was  thirsty,  a  screen  when  the 
sun  burned  him,  a  pillow  in  death." 

4 


50  LIFE  OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FIRST   ESSAYS   IN   THE   SERVICE   OF   CHRIST. 

THE  love  of  God,  when  kindled  in  the  heart,  burns  into  a 
flame  which  reveals  itself  in  our  life.  When  Christ  said  to 
his  disciples,  "Ye  shall  be  my  witnesses,"  he  pronounced 
the  words  of  a  moral  law  which  has  been  a  binding  one  in  his 
people's  conscience  ever  since.  The  constraining  impulses 
of  this  principle  began  now  to  move  in  the  breast  of  Adam 
Clarke,  and  urged  him  to  make  known  the  Saviour  he  had 
found.  He  began  with  those  nearest  to  himself,  and  made  the 
circle  of  his  own  domestic  life  the  first  sphere  of  his  evangelic 
efforts.  Family  worship,  except  on  Sundays,  had  fallen 
among  them  into  desuetude.  He  stated  to  them*  his  convic- 
tions about  the  necessity  of  observing  this  duty,  but  without 
avail,  unless  he  himself  would  perform  it.  The  diffidence 
of  a  modest  youth  rendered  this^a  formidable  task;  but  it 
had  boon  so  laid  upon  his  conscience  that  he  dared  not  shrink. 
"  At  Inst  he  took  up  this,  to  him,  tremendous  cross,  and 
prayed  with  his  father,  mother,  and  family.  And  as  long 
as  he  was  under  their  roof,  he  was,  in  this  respect,  their 
chaplain.  Yet  he  ever  felt  it  a  cross,  though  God  gave  him 
power  to  bear  it.  A  prayerless  family  has  (rod's  curse.  If 
the  parents  will  not  perform  family  prayer,  if  there  be  a 
converted  child,  it  devolves  on  him ;  and  should  he  refuse, 
he  will  soon  lose  the  comforts  of  religion.'' 

The  influence  of  his  holy  life  soon  began  to  show  its  effects 
in  the  more  serious  spirit  of  his  relatives.  The  Bible  was 
more  read,  and  private  prayer  resorted  to.  Hannah,  his 
fourth  sister,  soon  joined  the  society,  and  lived  to  be  one  .of 
its  ornaments,  at  Bristol,  when  tin-  wife,  of  that  eminent 


FIRST  ESSAYS   IN  THE   SERVICE   OF   CHRIST.       51 

scholar  and  true-hearted  servant  of  God,  the  late  Thomas 
Exley,  M.  A.  The  eldest  sister  soon  took  the  same  course. 
This  lady  was  afterward  united  in  marriage  with  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Johnson,  rector  of  St.  Perrans  Uthnoe,  Cornwall.  In 
short  most  of  the  family  became  hearers  of  the  word  among 
the  Methodists,  and  ultimately  members  of  that  com- 
munion. 

Outside  of  this  circle,  the  next  objects  of  his  solicitude 
were  his  old  schoolfellows  and  companions.  He  reasoned 
with  them  in  their  social  intercourse,  and  prevailed  on  some 
of  them  to  go  with  him  and  hear  the  word  of  God.  Here, 
too,  he  had  some  first-fruits  of  usefulness  ;  and  among 
these  youthful  comrades,  whose  friendship  was  strengthened 
and  purified  by  the  sanctities  of  religion,  was  one  who  him- 
self became  a  preacher.  This  was  Andrew  Coleman,  a 
young  man  of  good  education  and  great  promise,  of  whom 
Clarke  had  afterward  the  sacred  task  of  writing  a  beautiful 
biography,  which  was  published  in  the  Methodist  Memorial. 

These  incipient  efforts  soon  took  a  wider  range.  He  now 
filled  up  hts  occasional  hours  of  leisure  in  going  from  house 
to  house,  and  from  village  to  village,  doing,  in  his  simple 
way,  and  from  sheer  love  to  the  souls  of  the  people,  the 
work  of  a  Scripture-reader  and  home  missionary.  The 
Sunday  he  would  entirely  devote  to  this  work,  and  he 
made  full  proof  of  his  opportunity.  He  had  undertaken  to 
lead  a  class  at  a  place  six  miles  a.way  from  home,  and  this 
at  an  early  hour,  which  required  him  in  winter  to  set  out 
two  hours  before  daylight.  When  this  was  done,  he  would 
go  to  a  neighboring  village,  and  entering  the  first  open  door, 
say,  "  Peace  be  to  this  house,"  and  inquire  if  they  were 
willing  that  he  should  hold  a  short  religious  service  with 
them,  and  such  of  their  neighbors  as  would  like  to  come  in. 
Having  done  so,  (and  he  rarely  met  with  a  refusal.)  he  pro- 
ceeded to  another  village,  and  so  labored  through  the  day. 
Thus,  while  "  not  slothful  in  business,"  but  more  diligent  than 
ever  in  the  farm  and  the  school,  and  in  the  earnest  study  of 
the  classics,  the  French  language,  and  the  practical  mathe- 


52  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLAEKE. 

matics  he  was  "  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord."  We  have 
here,  coming  out  more  and  more  distinctly  to  our  view,  the 
types  of  that  character  which  the  Church  and  the  world  have 
since  looked  upon  with  undissembled  admiration.  Does 
any  young  man  wish  to  know  the  sure  way  to  prosperity 
and  greatness  ?  He  will  find  it  if  he  track  the  footsteps  of 
Adam  Clarke. 

The  zeal  of  our  young  convert  extended  to  everything  in 
his  power  to  help  the  cause  of  religion.  A  congregation 
having  been  raised  at  Upper  Mullihical,  the  want  of  some 
place  to  meet  in  was  greatly  felt.  The  people,  led  on  by 
Adam,  resolved  to  build  one  for  themselves ;  and  in  the 
manual  labor  of  the  undertaking  he  took  no  inconsiderable 
part.  Many  years  after,  when  opening  a  chapel  at  Halifax, 
he  said:  "  It  has  been  one  of  the  most  pleasurable  feelings 
of  my  life,  in  connection  with  the  worship  of  God,  that  I 
have  an  interest  in  a  place  reared  to  his  honor,  by  having 
helped  to  build  it.  The  good  people  fixed  upon  having  a 
chapel  near  the  place  where  my  father  resided.  I  loved 
God,  and  rejoiced  in  the  prosperity  of  his  work.  My  father 
allowed  me  to  take  his  own  horse  and  cart,  and  to  and  from 
the  cart  I  carried  stones  nearly  twice  the  size  of  what  ought 
to  have  been  lifted  by  me  in  proportion  to  my  strength ; 
but  I  seemed  inspired  on  the  occasion ;  and  if  any  person 
had  offered  me  twenty  thousand  pounds  for  every  twenty 
pound  of  stone  I  carried,  as  an  inducement  to  abandon  the 
work,  I  would  have  rejected  the  proposal  with  contempt." 

Meanwhile  the  question  as  to  his  future  vocation  in  life 
was  becoming  at  home  more  pressing  every  day.  His 
father  had  always  a  kind  of  presentiment  that  Adam  would 
be  a  clergyman  of  some  order  or  other.  His  own  predi- 
lections would,  of  course,  have  chosen  for  his  son  the  office  to 
which  he  had  himself  aspired  in  early  life — that  of  the  min- 
istry of  the  Established  Church ;  but  the  influence  of  his 
own  disappointment,  and  the  scanty  resources  of  the  family, 
combined  to  paralyze  any  effort  to  fif  him  for  it  at  the  Uni- 
versity. At  the  same  time  Mr.  Bennett,  a  relative,  who 


FIRST  ESSAYS  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  CHRIST.       53 

carried  on  an  extensive  linen  trade  in  Coleraine,  made  him 
a  liberal  offer  to  receive  Adam  into  his  establishment, which, 
in  the  wavering  state  of  Mr.  Clarke's  will,  gave  the  casting 
decision  to  it  to  devote  his  son  to  the  pursuits  of  commerce. 
Adam,  as  an  obedient  son,  yielded  his  assent,  though  with- 
out any  faith  in  the  enterprise,  as  he  felt  no  response  to  it 
in  his  own  mind,  and  could  not  divest  himself  of  an  ever- 
strengthening  conviction  that  God  had  designed  him  for  a 
more  spiritual  career.  However,  to  Coleraine  he  went; 
and,  though  he  did  not  become  a  linen-merchant,  he  gave 
proof,  during  the  eleven  months  spent  under  Mr.  Bennett's 
roof,  that  in  his  young  relative  that  gentleman  had  a  diligent 
and  conscientious  servant ;  but  one  who,  at  the  same  time, 
from  the  peculiar  habitudes  of  his  mind,  was  not  the  best 
fitted  for  the  customs  and  speculations  of  mercantile  life. 
The  employment,  moreover,  was  not  congenial  with  his 
physical  constitution.  Health  drooped,  and  his  memory 
became  strangely  oblivious.  Everything  within  and  with- 
out him  seemed  to  indicate  that  he  was  not  in  his  proper 
place.  His  religious  diligence  did  not  flag ;  he  was  earnest 
in  reproving  sin,  and  the  Lord  made  him  useful  in  the  con- 
version of  sinners,  as  in  the  case  of  a  wicked,  blaspheming 
domestic  of  his  master's,  and  others  in  the  town.  He 
sought  to  promote  the  work  of  God  among  the  people  in 
Coleraine ;  helping  the  morning  preacher,  by  going  round 
before  five  o'clock  with  a  bell  to  give  them  a  reveil  for  the 
house  of  prayer ;  and  on  Sabbath  days  taking  his  now  ac- 
customed part  in  the  work  of  exhortation  in  the  villages. 
The  pious  and  intelligent  Society  in  the  town  took  knowl- 
edge of  him,  and  learned  to  love  him  for  his  work's  sake. 
They  considered  "  the  end  of  his  conversation,"  Jesus  Christ 
ever  the  same  ;  they  appreciated  his  strong  native  talent, 
and  educational  advantages ;  and  expressed  their  conviction 
that  his  true  predestined  calling  was  not  the  Irish  linen  trade, 
but  the  Gospel  ministry.  This  tended  to  strengthen  the 
latent  bias  of  his  own  mind,  and  gave  a  more  distinct  pro- 
nunciation to  the  voice  which  was  bidding  him  to  be  free 


54  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

from  the  entanglements  of  the  world,  that  he  might  become 
a  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Bennett's 
esteem  for  him  was  shown  in  a  kind  offer,  that,  if  he  did  not 
like  his  business,  he  would  advance  him  money  to  enter  upon 
another,  at  the  same  time  recommending  the  trade  in  Irish 
pioduce  (butter,  hides,  and  tallow)  to  England.  But  the 
die  had  been  virtually  cast ;  he  was  to  be  "  a  merchant- 
man," who  should  seek  "  goodly  pearls,"  in  souls  forever 
saved.  Equally  futile  was  the  other  alternative,  to  become, 
like  his  father,  a  tiller  of  the  ground;  he  was  to  "go  forth 
bearing"  more  "precious  seed,"  and  "gather  fruit  unto 
life  eternal."  The  issue  of  this  episode  of  his  life  was, 
that  he  and  Mr.  Bennett  parted  with  mutual  affection  and 
lasting  respect,  and  Adam  returned  to  the  farm-house  at 
Agherton. 

Providence  now  spoke  at  once.  The  superintendent,  Mr. 
Bredin,  enlisted  him  as  an  occasional  helper  in  the  circuit. 
On  going  forth  on  his  first  expedition,  a  journey  of  thirty 
miles,  he  tells  us  that,  "just  before  he  set  out,  early  on  the 
Monday  morning,  he  took  up  his  Bible,  and  said,  '  Lord,  di- 
rect me  to  some  portion  of  thy  word  that  may  be  to  me  a 
subject  of  useful  meditation  on  the  way.'  "  He  then  opened 
the  book,  and  the  first  words  that  met  his  eyes  were  these : 
"  Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen  you,  and  or- 
dained you,  that  ye  should  go  and  bring  forth  fruit,  and  that 
your  fruit  should  remain  :  that  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  of 
the  Father  in  my  name,  he  may  give  it  you."  John  xv,  16. 
This  word  gave  him  great  encouragement,  and  he  went  on  his 
way  rejoicing.  When  he  came  to  the  city,  Mr.  Bredin  de- 
sired him  to  go  the  next  night  and  supply  his  place  at  a  vil- 
lage called  New  Buildings,  about  five  miles  from  Dcrry. 
To  this  he  agreed.  "  But,"  says  Mr.  Bredin,  "you  must 
jjreach  to  the  people."  "  I  will  do  the  best  I  can,"  says  Adam, 
"  with  God's  help."  "  But,"  says  Mr.  Bredin, "  you  must  take 
atext,and  preach  from  it."  "That  I  ciuuiol  undertake,"  said 
Adam.  "  You  must  and  shall,"  said  Mr.  Bredin.  "  I  will 
exhort  as  usual,  but  cannot  venture  to  take  a  text."  "  Well, 


FIRST  ESSAYS  IN   THE   SERVICE  OF   CHRIST.        55 

a  text  you  must  take,  for  the  people  will  not  be  satisfied 
without  it.  A  good  exhortation  is  a  sermon,  and  you  may 
as  well  have  a  text  as  not."  To  this  authority  he  was 
obliged  for  the  present  to  bow,  though  he  went  with  rather 
a  perplexed  than  a  heavy  heart.  "  I  will  go,"  thought  he 
to  himself;  "  1  can  only  bring  back  the  tidings  that  I  went, 
tried,  failed,  and  brought  a  disgrace  upon  Methodism."  He 
arrived  near  the  place  a  good  while  before  the  time,  and, 
not  knowing  any  one,  strolled  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  so 
depressed  and  melancholy  as  to  lie  down  on  the  grass  and 
weep.  He  tried  to  obtain  relief  in  prayer,  and  then  had  re- 
course to  his  Bible.  While  reading,  he  was  forcibly  struck 
with  the  words,  "  We  know  that  we  are  of  God,"  upon 
which  he  felt  his  mind  could  fasten,  as  the  text  he  wanted. 
Just  as  he  had  risen  from  the  grass,  a  man  passed,  of  whom 
he  inquired  for  the  place  of  preaching  occupied  by  the  Meth- 
odists. "He  asked,  'Are  you  the  preacher?'  Adam  an- 
swered, that  he  had  been  sent  in  that  capacity  by  Mr. 
Bredin.  The  man  measured  him  apparently  with  his  eye, 
from  head  to  foot,  and  then,  in  a  tone  of  despondency  min- 
gled with  surprise,  said. '  You  are  a  young  one  to  unravel  the 
word !' " 

It  was  on  that  evening,  June  19,  1782,  that  he  preached 
his  first  sermon.  The  text  was  the  passage  that  had  made 
the  impression  on  his  mind  in  the  field,  1  John  v,  19  :  "We 
know  that  we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wick- 
edness ;"  from  which  he  extemporized  a  discourse  on  the 
following  topics  :  1.  That  the  world  lies  in  wickedness  ; 
proved  by  appeals  to  the  state  of  man's  nature,  and  the 
actual  condition  of  human  society.  2.  That  it  is  only  by 
the  power  of  God  that  men  are  saved  from  this  state  of  cor- 
ruption ;  those  who  are  converted  being  converted  by  him  : 
"  We  are  of  God."  3.  Those  who  are  converted  know  it ; 
not  only  from  its  outward  effects  in  their  lives,  but  from 
the  change  made  in  their  hearts :  "  We  KNOW  that  we  are 
of  God." 

When  we  look  at  this  logical  and  striking  distribution  of 


56  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

the  subject,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  that  "the  people 
seemed  gratified,  and  gathered  round  him  when  he  had  fin- 
ished, and  entreated  him  to  preach  to  them  at  five  the  next 
morning,  at  a  place  a  mile  or  so  ofF,  where  many  gathered 
together,  to  whom  he  explained  and  applied  1  John  iv,  19  : 
"  We  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us." 

After  a  fortnight's  work,  he  returned  home  with  a  strong 
persuasion  in  his  mind  that  God  had  called  him  to  preach 
his  word ;  and  that  the  verse  to  which  he  was  directed  on 
his  outset  was  the  evidence  of  a  call  which  he  had  gracious- 
ly given  him.  Whatever  some  persons  may  think  of  them, 
these  convictions  were  sacred  to  the  young  man's  heart,  and 
the  issues  of  his  life  have  abundantly  proved  that  they  were 
not  fallacious. 

Some  time  beVore  this,  Mr.  Bredin,  believing  that  Adam 
Clarke  was  so  called  of  God  to  the  ministry,  had  written 
about  him  to  Mr.  Wesley,  who,  in  reply,  offered  to  take 
him  to  the  school  he  had  established  at  Kingswood,  near 
Bristol ;  where  he  might  increase  his  classical  knowledge, 
and,  by  occasional  pulpit-exercises,  become  more  fully  pro- 
pared  for  the  work.  He  had  not  long  returned  from  Derry 
when  another  letter  arrived  from  Mr.  Wesley  to  Mr. 
Bredin,  appointing  the  latter  to  an  English  Circuit,  and  di- 
recting that  he  should  bring  Adanl  Clarke  with  him. 


THE   OPENED  ROAD  ROUGH  AT  THE  OUTSET.      57 


CHAPTER  IY. 

THE  OPENED  KOAD  BOUGH  AT  THE  OUTSET. 

THE  life  which  was  unfolding  its  perspective  to  our 
young  preacher  could  have  attractions  only  to  one  who, 
having  counted  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus,  could  find  no  peace,  or  honor,  or 
joy,  but  in  doing  the  unearthly  work  of  turning  the  sinner 
from  the  error  of  his  ways,  and  saving  the  soul  from  death. 
This  was  a  labor  which,  in  a  worldly  point  of  view,  would 
bring  him  no  return.  He  had,  indeed,  respect  to  a  recom- 
pense of  reward,  but  it  lay  beyond  the  horizon  of  time  ;  and 
the  life  he  was  to  live  meanwhile,  he  could  then  view  only 
as  one  of  toil  and  martyrdom.  But  none  of  these  things 
moved  him,  neither  counted  he  his  life  dear  to  him,  so  that 
he  might  fulfill  his  course,  and  the  ministry  he  had  received 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

Such  was  the  lofty  principle  which  reigned  in  the  breast 
of  the  lone  young  man  who,  on  the  17th  of  August,  1782, 
stood  on  the  deck  of  a  vessel  bound  from  Londonderry  to 
England.  As  to  outward  appearance,  though  something 
above  the  middle  height,  he  was  slightly  made,  and  had  the 
look  of  being  worn  to  extreme  thinness  by  fasting  and 
ascetic  exercises.  Plain  in  his  features,  he  had  nevertheless 
a  certain  moral  beauty,  from  the  strong  reflection  of  intel- 
lect wakeful  with  high  and  solemn  thought,  and  hallowed  by 
the  love  of  God.  A  bystander  would  have  judged  that  he 
had  some  relation  to  the  ecclesiastical  life  by  the  loose, 
straight  coat  then  worn  by  the  preachers,  and  the  broad  tri- 
angular hat.  In  fact,  the  sailors  of  the  press-gang  let  him 
pass  free,  from  their  having  taken  him  for  an  Irish  priest. 


58  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

His  wardrobe  was  extremely  light,  his  purse  yet  lighter ; 
and  his  whole  viaticum  for  the  voyage  to  Liverpool,  and  the 
land  journey  to  Bristol,  consisted  of  a  little  bread  and 
cheese.  Poor  enough  as  he  was,  in  the  career  that  was  be- 
fore him  he  was,  to  all  human  calculation,  likely  to  remain 
so.  The  life  of  a  Methodist  preacher  in  those  days  was  all 
work  and  no  pay,  or  next  to  none.  Scanty  as  is  the  remuner- 
ation which  the  greater  number  of  these  faithful  and  laborious 
servants  of  the  public  now  receive,  with  the  first  race  of  the 
Wesleyan  ministers  it  was  unspeakably  worse.  We  shall 
see  in  what  way  Adam  Clarke  was  destined  for  a  time  to 
feel  this. 

But  the  experience  did  not  take  him  unawares  when  it 
came.  If,  according  to  Dean  Swift,  the  man  is  blessed  who 
expecteth  nothing,  our  friend  could  lay  claim  to  that  beati- 
tude. He  was  content  to  believe  that  Providence  would 
grant  him  food  and  raiment :  as  to  the  latter,  more  strictly 
speaking,  (as  he  himself  says  when  referring  to  this  epoch,) 
he  thought  nothing  about  it.  But  there  were  obstacles  to 
his  entering  even  upon  a  course  like  this  ;  and  one  arose 
from  the  difficulty  which  his  father  and  mother  felt  with 
regard  to  it.  His  brother  had  already  gone  from  home, 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clarke  naturally  looked  to  Adam  to  be 
the  stay  and  support  of  their  declining  years  ;  and  with  all 
their  respect  for  the  Methodist  ministers,  they  knew  enough 
of  their  temporal  affairs  to  be  convinced  that  for  their  son  to 
cast  in  his  lot  with  theirs  would  be  ruinous  to  all  his  inter- 
ests in  the  present  world.  They  gave  the  project  therefore, 
at  first,  their  most  decisive  refusal.  Mrs.  Clarke  urged  her 
objections  in  the  most  strenuous  terms,  and  sealed  them  on 
his  mind  with  the  threatening  of  her  curse.  In  this  painful 
dilemma  Adam  could  only  refer  all  to  the  Divine  will. 
He  took  his  burden  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  by  prayer 
and  supplication  commended  all  to  his  disposal.  Grace 
was  given  in  the  time  of  need.  He  had  prayed  that,  if  it 
were  the  will  of  his  Heavenly  Father  that  he  should  go,  the 
will  of  his  earthly  parents  might  be  brought  into  harmony 


THE  OPENED  ROAD  ROUGH  AT  THE  OUTSET.   59 

with  it.  Business  called  him  into  Coleraine  for  several 
days.  On  his  return  he  went  to  walk  in  the  garden.  His 
mother  came  to  him  and  informed  him  that  their  objections 
had  been  surmounted,  and  that  if  his  mind  were  still 
bent  upon  going,  the  way,  so  far  as  they  were  concerned, 
might  be  considered  open.  "  She  had  got  the  persuasion," 
says  he,  "that  God  required  her  to  give  up  her  son  to  do  his 
work  ;  she  instantly  submitted,  and  had  begun  to  use  her  in- 
fluence with  his  father,  to  bring  him  to  the  same  mind  ;  nor 
had  she  exerted  herself  in  vain.  Both  of  them  received 
him  with  a  pleasing  countenance;  and  though  neither  said 
'  Go,'  yet  botTi  said,  '  We  submit.'  In  a  few  days  he  set  off 
for  the  city  of  Londonderry,  whence  he  was  shortly  to 
embark  for  Liverpool. 

"  On  his  departure,  he  was  recommended  by  the  pious 
society  of  Coleraine  to  God.  He  had  little  money,  and  but 
a  scanty  wardrobe  ;  but  he  was  carried  far  above  the  fear 
of  want ;  he  would  not  ask  his  parents  for  any  help,  nor 
would  he  intimate  to  them  that  he  needed  any.  A  few  of  his 
own  select  friends  put  some  money  in  his  purse,  and  having 
taken  a  dutiful  arid  affectionate  leave  of  his  parents  and 
friends,  he  walked  to  Derry,  a  journey  of  upward  of  thirty 
miles,  in  a  part  of  a  day,  found  Mr.  Bredin  waiting,  who 
had  agreed  for  their  passage  in  a  Liverpool  trader,  which 
was  expected  to  sail  the  first  fair  wind. 

"  As  he  was  young  and  inexperienced,  (for  he  had  not 
seen  the  world,)  Adam  was  glad  that  he  was  likely  to  have 
the  company  and  advice  of  his  friend  Mr.  Bredin ;  but  in 
this  he  was  disappointed. 

"  Just  as  they  were  about  to  sail,  a  letter  came  from  Mr. 
Wesley,  remanding  Mr.  Bredin's  appointment.  There  was 
no  time  to  deliberate  ;  the  wind  was  fair,  the  vessel  got  clear 
out,  and  about  to  fall  down  the  Lough :  Adam  got  a  loaf  of 
bread  and  about  a  pound  of  cheese,  went  instantly  aboard, 
and  the  vessel  sailed.  By  this  step  he  had  separated  him- 
self from  all  earthly  connections  and  prospects  in  his  own 
country,  and  went  on  what  he  believed  to  be  a  Divine  com- 


60.  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

mand,  not  knowing  whither  he  was  going,  or  what  God  in- 
tended for  him." 

In  those  days  steam  navigation  was  unknown,  and  the 
voyage  begun  on  Saturday  was  not  completed  till  the 
Monday  afternoon.  Adam  would  have  improved  the 
Sunday  in  his  usual  way,  but  was  prostrate  with  sea-sick- 
ness. He  reproved  the  sailors  for  profane  swearing,  and 
they  took  it  respectfully  and  refrained.  He  observed  the 
captain  to  read  a  good  deal  at  intervals,  and  found  the 
author  was  Flavel.  This  opened  the  way  for  serious  con- 
versation, with  which  Captain  Cunningham  expressed  himself 
much  pleased.  Off  Hoylake  a  pilot  came  on  board,  and 
warned  them  that  they  would  meet  with  "  a  hot  press  "  up 
the  river.  This  was  soon  explained  by  the  sight  of  a  man- 
of-war's  tender,  which  brought  them  to  by  a  couple  of  guns. 
The  captain  could  only  obey,  but  exhorted  the  passengers  to 
hide  themselves  as  best  they  could  below.  The  two  steer- 
age passengers,  the  one  a  seafaring  man  and  the  other  a 
hatter,  took  his  advice ;  but  Clarke  said  to  himself,  "  Shall 
such  a  man  as  I  flee  ?  I  will  not.  I  am  in  the  hands  of  the 
Lord :  if  he  permit  me  to  be  sent  on  board  of  a  man-of-war 
doubtless  he  has  something  for  me  to  do  there."  So  he 
took  a  seat  on  the  locker  in  the  cabin,  lifting  up  his  heart  in 
prayer.  Presently  the  tender's  boat  was  alongside  with  six 
men  and  an  officer.  On  boarding,  the  officer  "  with  a  hoarse 
voice"  summoned  all  below  to  come  on  deck.  Adam  im- 
mediately walked  up,  and  stood  reclining  against  the  gun- 
wale. The  lieutenant  dived  below  in  quest  of  passengers, 
but  found  only  the  hatter,  of  whom,  poor  fellow,  they  made 
a  capture.  "  And  who  have  you  got  here  ?"  said  one  of  the 
gang,  looking  at  Adam.  "A  priest,  I'll  warrant."  But  we 
took  a  priest  yesterday,  and  will  let  this  one  alone."  With 
that  the  lieutenant  came,  and  having  scrutinized  him  from 
head  to  foot,  took  his  hand  and  manipulated  it,  as  if  to  judge 
whether  he  had  been  brought  up  to  the  sea  or  hard  labor  ; 
and  casting  it  from  him  with  an  oath,  gave  it  as  his  opinion 
that  "  he  would  not  do."  Adam's  bosom  swelled  with  in- 


THE  OPENED  ROAD  ROUGH  AT  THE-  OUTSET.      61 

dignation,  not  only  then,  but  when  relating  this  circumstance 
afterward,  he  used  to  inveigh  against  the  tyranny  of  a  cus- 
tom at  once  iniquitous  and  cruel  in  itself,  and  utterly  at 
variance  with  the  spirit  and  the  letter  of  the  British  Con- 
stitution. 

The  worthy  captain's  wife  was  the  mistress  of  a  boarding- 
house,  and  there  our  young  traveler  found  a  quiet  and  con- 
genial sojourn  during  his  brief  stay  in  Liverpool.  The  inmates 
were  a  Scotch  gentleman  and  a  naval  officer.  The  conversa- 
tion at  the  tea-table  gave  Adam  an  occasion  of  respectfully 
admonishing  the  lady  about  a  habit  she  had  of  asseverating 
by  her  conscience.  This  led  to  a  further  discussion  at  sup- 
per, when  the  naval  man  avowed  himself  a  member  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  stating  his  belief  in  the 
doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  demanded  of  Adam  whether 
he  had  anything  to  say  against  that.  "  O  yes,  sir,"  replied 
he,  "  I  have  much  to  say  against  it ;"  and  then  proceeded  to 
argue  largely  to  prove  the  dogma  to  be  unscriptural  and 
absurd.  The  captain  then  asked  him  what  he  had  to  say 
against  the  invocation  of  saints,  and  the  worship  of  images  1 
He  gave  his  reasons  at  large  against  these  also.  Purgatory, 
auricular  confession,  and  the  priest's  power  to  forgive  sins, 
were  then  considered,  and  confuted  from  Scripture  and 
reason.  But  the  last  topic  gave  him  the  opportunity  to 
speak  on  the  nature  of  sin,  the  condemned  state  of  fallen 
man,  and  the  impossibility  that  any  one  could  take  away 
guilt  but  He  against  whose  law  the  transgression  is  com- 
mitted, as  well  as  on  the  terrible  doom  that  awaits  the  un- 
forgiven.  He  then  showed  that  reconciliation  with  God 
was  impossible  except  through  the  great  sacrifice  made  by 
Jesus  Christ,  which  becomes  effectual  to  no  man  who  does  not 
truly  repent  and  implicitly  confide  in  it.  While  discoursing 
on  these  subjects  God  gave  him  uncommon  power  and  free- 
dom of  speech.  The  company  heard  him  with  a  fixed  and 
solemn  gaze,  and  at  length  showed  by  tears  that  the  word 
had  entered  their  hearts.  Hereupon  he  rose,  and  invited 
them  to  pray.  They  fell  on  their  knees,  and  he  concluded 


62  -LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

this  remarkable  interview  with  fervent  supplication,  which 
seemed  to  find  a  mighty  response  in  every  one's  mind. 
The  effects  of  these  well-spent  hours  may  hereafter  be  un- 
folded in  a  better  world. 

On  leaving  Captain  Cunningham's  the  next  morning,  he 
inquired  for  his  bill.  "No,  sir,"  said  Mrs.  Cunningham, 
"  you  owe  us  nothing.  It  is  we  who  are  deeply  in  your 
debt.  You  have  been  a  blessing  to  our  house,  and  were  you 
to  stay  longer,  you  would  have  no  charges."  He  departed 
earnestly  invoking  that  God  would  remember  that  family 
for  good,  for  the  kindness  they  had  shown  to  a  poor  stranger 
in  a  strange  land. 

The  same  good  providence  was  over  him  in  the  journey 
to  Bristol,  which  he  performed  as  an  outside  passenger  of  a 
lumbering  and  slow-going  conveyance  miscalled  the  Fly. 
A  young  gentleman,  one  of  the  "  insides,"  came  outside  for 
a  change,  and  commenced  a  gay  rattling  conversation  inter- 
larded with  an  occasional  oath.  Here  was  another  task  for 
Adam,  who  at  once  accepted  it,  and  told  the  swearer  what 
he  thought  of  his  bad  custom.  "  What,"  said  the  gentleman, 
"  are  you  a  Presbyterian  ?"  "  No,  sir,"  said  Adam,  "  I  am  a 
Methodist."  This  provoked  his  risibility  to  an  uncommon 
degree,  and  he  made  it  the  subject  of  a  great  deal  of  harm- 
loss  but  rather  foolish  wit.  On  returning  inside  he  told  his 
tali-  in  his  own  way,  and  this  excited  the  curiosity  of  his 
companions  to  see  the  strange  creature.  A  gentleman  from 
within  accordingly  offered  Adam  to  exchange  places  with 
him.  Adam  preferred  remaining  where  he  was.  Another 
overture  was  followed  by  the  same  result.  At  length,  when 
the  coach  stopped,  a  lady  asked  him  to  favor  them  with  his 
company.  Adam,  observing  the  still  unsettled  face  of  his 
risible  friend,  excused  himself,  on  the  pica  that  he  did  not 
think  liis  company  would  be  agreeable.  She  answered, 
••Sir.  you  must  come  in ;  this  young  gentleman  will  take 
your  |ilacc,  and  yon  will  do  us  good."  Thus  challenge,],  he 
could  no  longer  refuse.  Questioned  about  his  religion,  the 
purposes  of  his  journey,  etc.,  he  gave  such  an  account  of 


THE  OPENED  ROAD  ROUGH  AT  THE  OUTSET.       63 

himself  as  visibly  won  their  good  sympathies,  and  some  hours 
were  passed  in  cheerful  and  profitable  conversation.  Adam, 
finding  the  gentleman  was  a  scholar,  fortified  some  remarks 
he  made  to  him  about;  the  confidence  that  every  true  ser- 
vant of  God  has  in  his  favor  and  protection,  by  observing 
that  the  principle  was  not  unknown  among  even  the  heathens, 
though  many  called  Christians  deny  that  we  can  have  any 
direct  evidence  of  God's  love  for  us,  and  quoted  the  verse 
from  Horace : 

' Integer  vita,  scelerisque  purus 
Non  eget  Mauri  jaculus  neque  arcu, 
Nee  venenatis  gravidd  sagittis, 
Fusee,  pharetra."* 

"  True,"  said  the  gentleman ;  "  but  if  we  take  Horace  as 
authority  for  one  point,  we  may  as  well  do  it  in  another ; 
and  in  some  of  your  received  principles  you  will  find  him 
against  you.  Witness  another  ode : 

'  Nunc  est  bibendum,  nuncpede  libero 
Pulsanda  tellus."-): 

Adam  acknowledged  the  propriety  of  this  critique,  and 
sometimes,  referring  to  it,  used  to  say :  "  We  should  be 
cautious  how  we  appeal  to  heathens,  even  as  to  morality ; 
because  much  may  be  collected  from  them  on  the  other 
side.  In  like  manner  we  must  be  careful  how  we  quote  the 
Fathers  in  proof  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel ;  because  he 
who  knows  them  best,  knows  that  on  many  of  those  sub- 
jects they  blow  hot  and  cold." 

When  the  coach  stopped  for  dinner  at  Lichfield  they  in- 
sisted upon  his  being  their  guest,  and  would  not  suffer  him 
to  be  at  any  charge ;  and  as  they  were  going  on  to  London, 

*  Odar.  i,  22.    "  The  man  that  knows  not  guilty  fear, 
Nor  wants  the  bow,  nor  pointed  spear ; 
Nor  needs,  while  innocent  of  heart, 
The  quiver  teeming  with  the  poison'd  dart." 

t  Odar.  i,  37.     "  Now  let  the  bowl  with  wine  be  crown'd, 
Now  lightly  dance  the  mazy  round." 


64  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

they  urged  him  to  go  round  to  Bristol  by  the  same  way, 
with  the  assurance  that  they  would  defray  his  expenses. 
Anxious,  however,  to  get  to  Kingswood  by  the  most  direct 
route,  he  took  leave  of  this  agreeable  party  with  mutual 
good  feelings. 

At  Birmingham  Providence  was  equally  kind,  in  opening 
to  him  the  hearts  and  home  of  an  excellent  family,  the 
relatives  of  Mr.  Brettell,  the  first  Methodist  preacher  he 
had  heard  in  Ireland.  He  accompanied  them  to  chapel  in 
the  evening,  and  heard  old  Parson  Greenwood  discourse  on 
the  words  of  the  apostle  :  "  I  am  in  a  strait  betwixt  two." 
The  preacher  pointed  out  the  example  of  many  good  men 
who  have  been  constrained  to  make  that  confession :  upon 
which  Adam  made  the  reflection  that,  had  he  known  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  himself  was  then  found,  he  might 
safely  have  added  him  to  the  number. 

It  was  well  for  him  that  he  met  with  these  kindnesses  by 
the  way,  for  on  coming  to  Bristol  he  found  that  his  little 
store  of  cash  had  dwindled  to  one  shilling  and  sevenpence 
halfpenny.  This  was  occasioned  by  the  expense  of  the 
journey  by  coach,  which  he  had  designed  at  first  to  perform 
on  foot,  till  he  yielded  to  the  dissuasions  of  Mr.  Cunningham 
at  Liverpool.  On  the  last  day  of  the  journey,  no  dinner 
offering  itself,  he  subsisted  on  "a  penny  loaf  and  a  halfpenny 
worth  of  apples."  Hungry  and  exhausted,  he  went  into  the 
kitchen  of  an  inn  in  Broadmead,  warmed  himself  at  the  fire, 
and  asked  for  a  piece  of  bread  and  cheese,  and  a  drink  of 
water.  "  Water  !"  said  one  of  the  servants  ;  "  had  you  not 
better  have  a  pint  of  beer  ?"  "  No,  I  prefer  water,"  said 
he.  It  was  brought ;  and  for  this  homely  supper  he  paid 
sixpence,  and  sixpence  for  his  bed  before  he  lay  down.  He 
had  now  sevenpence  halfpenny,  sixpence  of  which  the 
chambermaid  charged  him  for  taking  care  of  his  box. 
Breakfast  next  morning  was  out  of  the  question;  so  he  left 
Bristol  with  his  whole  fortune  of  three-halfpence,  and  bent 
his  steps  up  the  hill  toward  Kingswood.  He  found  the 
Wesleyan  establishment,  consisting  of  a  mansion,  school, 


THE  OPENED  KOAL>  ROUGH  AT  THE  OUTSET.       (x> 

and  chapel,  surrounded  by  a  small  grove  of  trees  in  an  open 
moorland  country.  It  was  seven  in  the  morning,  the  hour 
for  prayers  and  sermon,  and  several  people  were  entering 
the  chapel  for  service.  He  joined  them,  and  drank  in  some 
words  of  consolation  which  the  preacher,  Mr.  Payne,  spoke 
from  the  text,  "  Why  weepest  thou?  Whom  seekest  thou?" 
The  topic  was  seasonable,  for  an  unusual  oppression  weigh- 
ed upon  his  mind.  Mr.  Brettell,  at  Birmingham,  had  given 
him  some  uneasiness,  by  expressing  a  strong  opinion  that 
his  expectations  of  getting  any  profit  at  Kingswood  would 
turn  out  to  be  fallacious ;  and  he  now  suffered  a  presenti- 
ment of  distress  which  he  could  not  shake  off.  Immediately 
after  the  service  he  requested  to  be  introduced  to  the  head- 
master, Mr.  Simpson,  to  whom  he  delivered  Mr.  Wesley's 
letter.  The  master  appeared  surprised,  and  told  him  that 
his  coming  was  totally  unexpected,  and  that,  in  effect,  they 
had  no  room  in  the  school  for  any  one.  He  added,  that 
Mr.  Wesley,  who  was  then  in  Cornwall,  would  not  return 
for  a  fortnight ;  and  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to 
go  back  to  Bristol  and  lodge  there  till  he  came.  Crushed 
at  heart  with  distress,  poor  Adam  ventured  to  say  :  "  I  can- 
not return  to  Bristol,  sir.  I  have  expended  all  my  money, 
and  have  nothing  to  subsist  on."  The  master  said :  "  But 
why  should  you  have  come  to  Kingswood  at  all  ?  It  appears 
from  this  letter  that  you  have  already  been  at  a  classical 
school,  and  can  read  both  Greek  and  Latin  authors.  If  you 
are  already  a  preacher,  you  had  better  go  out  into  the  work 
at  large,  for  there  is  no  room  for  you  in  the  school,  and  not 
one  spare  bed  in  the  house."  ....  At  last  it  was  decided 
he  should  have  permission  to  occupy  a  room  at  the  end  of 
the  old  chapel,  where  the  forlorn  youth  passed  several  days 
and  nights,  encountering  meanwhile  not  a  few  annoyances. 
And  when,  at  length,  he  was  allowed  to  take  a  place  at  din- 
ner at  the  family  bible,  all  comfort  was  annihilated  by  the 
overbearing  rigor  of  the  hostess.  It  is  needless  to  go  mi- 
nutely into  the  circumstances  which  embittered  his  transient 
sojourn ;  some  of  them  it  might  be  found  impossible  to 

5 


DO  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

recall  with  accuracy.  I  will  be  content  to  offer  a  remark 
which  some  readers  may  require,  to  obviate  the  scandal 
they  might  be  led  to  attach  to  Kingswood  School  itself. 
The  establishment  at  that  place  had  been  founded  by  Mr. 
Wesley  with  the  combined  object  of  affording  an  educational 
asylum  for  the  sons  of  his  preachers,  and  a  seminary,  on  the 
plan  of  a  boarding-school,  for  the  children  of  Methodist 
parents  who  were  desirous  of  giving  them  the  benefits  of  a 
system  in  which  the  religious  element  formed  a  well-defined 
constituent  along  with  the  essentials  of  secular  learning. 
The  design  was  noble  and  good,  but  it  must  be  confessed 
that  hitherto  it  had  proved  a  failure.  The  staff  of  teachers 
seemed  unexceptionable.  Mr.  Simpson  himself  was 'a  Mas- 
ter of  Arts,  and,  as  Dr.  Clarke  records,  "  a  man  of  learning 
and  piety,  but  one  too  easy  for  his  situation."  The  Rev. 
Cornelius  Bayley,  afterward  Dr.  Bayley,  of  St.  James's 
Church,  Manchester,  was  English  teacher ;  Mr.  Vincent  De 
Baudry,  professor  of  French,  and  Mr.  Bond,  assistant  teacher. 
"  The  scholars,  however,  were  none  of  them  remarkable  for 
piety  or  learning.  The  boarders  had  spoiled  the  discipline 
of  the  school ;  very  few  of  its  rules  and  regulations  were 
observed ;  and  it  by  no  means  answered  the  end  of  its  insti- 
tution. Though  the  teachers  were  men  of  adequate  learning, 
yet  as  .the  school  was  perfectly  disorganized,  every  one  did 
what  wsis  right  in  his  own  eye.  The  little  children  of  the 
preachers  suffered  great  indignities ;  the  parlor  boarders 
had  every  kind  of  respect,  and  the  others  were  shamefully 
neglected."  Mr.  Wesley  had  become  acquainted  with  this 
state  of  things,  and  in  an  exposition  of  the  case  which  he 
gave  shortly  after  at  the  Bristol  Conference,  expressed  his 
determination  "  either  to  mend  it  or  to  end  it." 

It  was  mended.  The  idea  of  the  united  school  was  given 
up,  and  the  establishment  henceforward  devoted  to  the  pur- 
pose of  affording  a  wholesome  and  useful  education  to  the 
children  of  the  itinerant  preachers.  Another  branch  was 
subsequently  located  at  Woodhouse  Grove,  in  Yorkshire. 
Kingswood  School  has  been  improving  steadily  with  the 


THE  OPENED  ROAD  ROUGH  AT  THE  OUTSET.   67 

lapse  of  time,  and  is  now  one  of  the  best  educational  institu- 
tions in  the  country.  Its  locale  has  been  transferred  to  the 
vicinity  of  Bath,  where,  on  Lansdown  Hill,  it  forms  one 
of  the  ornaments  even  of  that  neighborhood,  so  distinguished 
by  fine  architecture.  Nor  has  the  other  design  been  over- 
looked by  the  present  generation  of  the  Methodist  people  ; 
of  which  their  beautiful  collegiate  establishments  at  Sheffield 
and  Taunton  are  conspicuous  monuments.  The  Methodists 
are  now,  indeed,  behind  no  religious  communion  in  their  en- 
terprises for  the  promotion  of  knowledge  and  learning. 
They  have  founded  hundreds  of  primary  schools  in  various 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  all  of  them  in  connection  with  a  noble 
Training  College  for  teachers  at  Westminster.  Their  theo- 
logical faculty  accomplishes  an  effective  training  of  devoted 
young  men  for  the  service  of  the  Church,  at  their  colleges  of 
Richmond,  in  Surrey,  and  Didsbury,  near  Manchester.  In 
India,  Africa,  and  Australia,  similar  institutions  are  rising ; 
while,  in  America,  some  of  the  best  universities  in  Canada 
and  the  United  states  are  conducted  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Methodist  Church.  All  Mr.  Wesley's  ideas  had  the 
imprint  of  a  mind  which  combined  the  characteristics  of  the 
refined  scholar  and  the  Christian  apostle  ;  and,  in  their  ever- 
growing development,  whole  myriads  of  families  are  grate- 
ful partakers  of  benefits  which  have  rendered  his  name  a 
sacred  symbol  of  whatever  things  are  pure,  or  lovely,  or 
of  good  report,  or  productive  of  virtue  and  of  praise. 

But  now  to  return  to  our  poor  solitary.  The  authorities 
at  Kingswood  made  him,  as  we  have  seen,  dwell  apart  at 
first ;  and,  when  admitted  to  the  table,  laid  him  under 
restraints  which  rendered  solitude  more  agreeable  to  him 
than  their  society.  He  had  however  by  this  time  got  his 
trunk  with  his  few  books  *  and  papers  from  Bristol ;  and  he 
filled  up  the  intervals  of  study  by  working  in  the  garden,  f 

*A  pocket  Bible,  a  Greek  Testament,  Prideaux's  Connection,  and 
Young's  Night  Thoughts. 

t  In  digging  there  one  day,  he  lit  upon  a  half-guinea.  Having  laid  this 
golden  discovery  before  the  gentlemen  of  the  house,  and  found  that  none 


68  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

and  occasional  essays  to  do  good,  by  speaking  to  the  peo- 
ple, as  occasion  offered.  Moreover,  Mr.  Rankin  came,  the 
superintendent  preacher,  who  conceived  a  partiality  for  him 
at  once,  and  set  him  to  do  some  work  in  the  circuit.  In  one 
of  his  excursions  he  preached  at  the  village  of  Pensford, 
when  "  a  venerable  man "  in  the  congregation  came  and  laid 
his  hand  upon  him,  and  said,  with  a  look  of  approval  and 
solemnity,  "  Christ  bless  the  word !  Christ  bless  the  word  ! 
Christ  bless  the  word  !"  The  kind  feeling  manifested  by  this 
aged  disciple  was  like  a  gleam  of  sunshine  on  the  young 
man's  heart. 

At  length  Mr.  Wesley  arrived  at  Bristol,  and  having 
received  Mr.  Simpson's  statement  in  relation  to  the  young 
stranger,  expressed  a  wish  to  see  him.  The  interview  is 
described  by  Adam  :  "  I  had  this  privilege  for  the  first  time 
on  September  the  sixth.  I  went  into  Bristol;  saw  Mr. 
Rankin,  who  took  me  to  Mr.  Wesley's  study,  off  the  great 
lobby  of  the  rooms  over  the  chapel  in  Broadmead.  He 
tapped  at  the  door,  which  was  opened  by  this  truly  apostolic 
man.  Mr.  Rankin  retired.  Mr.  Wesley  took  me  kindly 
by  the  hand,  and  asked  me  how  long  since  I  had  left  Ireland. 
Our  conversation  was  short.  He  said :  '  Well,  brother 
Clarke,  do  you  wish  to  devote  yourself  entirely  to  the  work 
of  God  V  I  answered :  '  Sir,  I  wish  to  do  and  be  what  God 
pleases.'  He  then  said :  '  We  want  a  preacher  for  Bradford, 
in  Wiltshire :  hold  yourself  in  readiness  to  go  there.  I  am 
going  into  the  country,  and  will  let  you  know  when  you 
shall  go.'  He  then  turned  to  me,  laid  his  hands  upon  my 
head,  and  spent  a  few  moments  in  praying  to  God  to  bless 
and  preserve  me,  and  to  give  me  success  in  the  work  to 
which  I  was  called.  I  departed,  having  now  received,  in  ad- 
dition to  my  appointment  from  God  to  preach  his  Gospel, 
the  only  authority  I  could  have  from  man  in  that  line  in 
which  I  was  to  exercise  the  ministry  of  the  Divine  word." 

of  them  claimed  it,  he  entered  his  name  as  a  subscriber  to  a  Hebrew 
Grammar  which  Mr.  Bayley  was  then  preparing  for  publication,  and 
which  gave  him  afterward  his  first  lessons  in  the  study  of  the  holy 
tongue. 


THE   OPENED  KOAD  BOUGH  AT  THE   OUTSET.       69 

That  evening  he  heard  Mr.  Wesley  preach  on  these  words : 
"  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the 
Lord  of  Hosts."  Two  days  after  he  first  saw  Charles  Wes- 
ley, being  not  a  little  gratified  to  have  the  opportunity  of 
seeing  "  the  two  men  whom  I  had  long  considered  as  the 
very  highest  characters  upon  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  as 
the  most  favored  instruments  which  God  had  employed, 
since  the  days  of  the  twelve  apostles,  to  revive  and  spread 
genuine  Christianity  in  the  earth."  On  the  twenty -sixth  of 
the  month  he  received  final  instructions  to  repair  to  his 
circuit. 

He  obeyed  at  once.  There  were  no  bands  of  love  to  de- 
tain him  at  Kingswood  an  hour.  That  very  morning  he 
walked  away  to  Hanham,  and  from  thence  to  Bath,  where 
he  again  heard  Mr.  Wesley ;  and  thence  again  next  day  to 
Bradford,  lodging  that  night  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Pearce. 
The  day  following  he  found  his  way  to  Trowbridg«,  the 
head-quarters  for  the  preachers  of  the  circuit. 
Sursum  corda. 


70  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLAKKE. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

THE   EVANGELIST. 

THOUGH  Wesleyan  Methodism  had  not  at  that  time  risen 
to  the  massive  strength  in  which  it  is  now  recognized  as  one 
of  the  established  religious  institutions  of  the  country,  it  had 
nevertheless,  so  far  back  as  the  time  of  which  we  are  now 
writing,  unfolded  the  character  of  a  vital  and  powerful  sys- 
tem of  Christian  agency,  which  was  exerting  an  enlightening, 
moralizing,  and  pacific  influence  over  immense  masses  of  the 
English  people.  Congregations,  not  on  Sabbaths  only,  but 
from  day  to  day,  in  all  parts  of  the  land,  came  in  silent 
crowds  to  hear  from  its  preachers  the  word  of  God ;  and 
hundreds  of  Societies,  united  in  the  faith,  hope,  and  charity 
of  our  holy  religion,  walking  in  the  comfort  of  the  blessed 
Spirit,  and  being  ever  multiplied,  gave  proof  that  the  word 
was  not  heard  in  vain.  When,  therefore,  Mr.  Adam  Clarke 
entered  on  the  sphere  of  labor  assigned  him  under  the  cir- 
cumstances we  have  recounted,  he  had  not  to  feel  his  way 
•with  the  uncertain  step  of  a  mere  adventurer,  but  had  only 
to  make  his  credentials  known,  to  secure  for  himself  the 
welcomes  of  a  numerous  people  prepared  to  receive  all  such 
as  he  with  the  benedictions  of  the  Gospel  of  peace.  Some 
of  them,  indeed,  struck  at  first  sight  with  the  extreme  juve- 
nility of  their  new  preacher,  might  have  wished  that  a  man 
of  greater  age  and  consequent  experience  had  been  appointed 
to  them  ;  and  the  pleasant  tradition  is  yet  repeated,  that  on 
his  first  visit  to  one  of  the  chapels,  as  he  walked  with  solemn 
step  along  the  aisle  to  the  pulpit,  one  of  the  seniors  of  the 
congregation  was  overheard  giving  a  sort  of  vexed  expres- 
sion to  his  first  view  of  the  affair,  with,  "  Tut,  tut !  what 


THE   EVANGELIST.  71 

will  Mr.  Wesley  send  us  next  ?"  Yet  they  proved  them- 
selves fully  able  to  appreciate  and  ever  after  to  love  the 
stranger,  now  such  no  longer,  who  had  come  among  them. 
His  own  musings,  too,  upon  this  difficulty,  were  by  no 
means  agreeable.  "  His  youth,"  he  writes  of  himself,  "  was 
a  grievous  trial  to  him,  and  was  the  subject  of  many  per- 
plexing reasonings.  He  thought,  'How  can  I  expect  that 
men  and  women,  persons  of  forty,  threescore,  or  more  years, 
will  come  out  and  hear  a  boy  preach  the  Gospel  ?  And  is 
it  likely  that,  if  through  curiosity  they  do  come,  they  will 
believe  what  I  say  ?  As  to  the  young,  they  are  too  gay  and 
giddy  to  attend  to  divine  things;  and  if  so,  among  whom 
lies  the  probability  of  my  usefulness1?'"  Time,  however, 
with  its  rapid  wing,  would  too  soon  leave  all  these  com- 
plaints behind  him.  Meanwhile  the  intellectual  and  relig- 
ious characteristics  of  this  youth  placed  him  on  a  par  with 
"  persons  of  forty,"  ay,  and  with  some  of  the  sages  of  "  four- 
score." As  to  the  people  among  whom  he  had  come,  young 
or  old — boy  as  he  was,  he  could  teach  them  all.  He  was 
himself  taught  of  God.  "  The  Bible  was  his  one  book,  and 
prayer  his  continual  exercise ;  he  frequently  read  it  on  his 
knees,  and  often  watered  it  with  his  .tears."  When  he  says 
the  Bible  was  his  one  book,  he  records  his  conviction  that 
the  sacred  volume  is  the  only  absolute  canon  of  Divine 
truth ;  the  sole  infallible  rule  of  doctrine,  and  the  grand 
warrant  of  hope  to  man  ;  from  which  all  effectual  teaching 
must  be  denied,  and  to  which  all  creed  must  be  subjected. 
As  the  sun  enlightens  the  face  of  the  planet,  so  the  Bible 
illumines  the  true  teachers  of  the  Church. 

"  Hither, 

As  to  their  fountain,  other  stars  repair, 
And  in  their  golden  urns  draw  light." 

The  late  Thomas  Marriott,  Esq.,  had  a  Bible  of  Dr. 
Clarke's,  which  he  believed  to  be  the  identical  copy  he 
brought  with  him  from  Kingswood,  or  rather  from  Ireland, 
to  Trowbridge.  It  has,  in  addition  to  his  name,  the  date, 
"  Trowbridge,  Wiltshire,  August  9,  1783.  Bene  orcisse  est 


72  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

bene  studuisse."  At  the  end  of  the  Old  Testament  is 
the  memorandum,  "June  10.  Bead  through;"  while  by 
another,  at  the  beginning  of  Genesis,  we  judge  that  he  re- 
commenced the  next  day  :  "Incepi,  June  11, 1784."  I  have 
myself  a  pocket  Bible  of  his,  in  a  stout  red  morocco  case. 
<  )n  the  top  of  the  title-page  are  the  words  in  his  hand- writ- 
ing, "  God  is  love.  Glory  to  his  name !  Adam  Clarke, 
May  21,  1783."  This  copy,  therefore,  must  have  been  in 
his  possession  at  Trowbridge,  as  well  as  that  obtained  by 
Mr.  Marriott. 

Searching  thus  the  Scriptures,  with  habitual  and  devout 
meditation,  he  had  already  acquired  a  deep  insight  into  the 
analogy  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  was  enabled  to  embrace 
and  ever  hold  fast  the  great  principles  of  revealed  theology. 
It  was  not  far  from  this  time  that  he  drew  up  the  following 
theses,  which  may  be  considered  the  alpha  and  omega  of  his 
religious  creed,  no  article  of  which,  he  tells  us,  he  ever  saw 
occasion  to  alter  : 

"I.  That  there  is  but  one  uncreated,  unoriginated,  infinite, 
and  eternal  Being ;  the  creator,  preserver,  and  governor 
of  all  things. 

"  II.  There  is  in  this  Infinite  Essence  a  plurality  of  what 
we  commonly  call  persons ;  not  separately  subsisting,  but 
essentially  belonging  to  the  Deity  or  Godhead ;  which  per- 
sons are  generally  termed  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  or, 
God,  the  Logos,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  are  usually 
designated  the  Trinity ;  which  term,  though  not  found  in 
the  Scriptures,  seems  properly  enough  applied;  as  we  re- 
peatedly read  of  these  three,  and  never  of  more  persons  in 
the  Godhead. 

"III.  The  Sacred  Scriptures  or  Holy  Books,  which  con- 
stitute the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  contain  a  full  revela- 
tion of  the  will  of  God  in  reference  to  man  ;  and  are  alone 
sufficient  for  everything  relative  to  the  faith  and  practice  of 
a  Christian,  and  were  given  by  the  inspiration  of  God. 

"  IV.  Man  was  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness, 


THE    EVANGELIST.  73 

without  any  moral  imperfection,  or  any  kind  of  propensity 
to  sin ;  but  free  to  stand  or  fall,  according  to  the  use  of  the 
powers  and  faculties  he  received  from  his  Creator. 

"  V.  He  fell  from  this  state,  became  morally  corrupt  in 
his  nature,  and  transmitted  his  moral  defilement  to  all  his 
posterity. 

"  VI.  To  counteract  the  evil  principle  in  the  heart  of 
man,  and  bring  him  into  a  salvable  state,  God,  from  his  in- 
finite love,  formed  the  purpose  of  redeeming  him  from  his 
lost  estate  by  the  incarnation,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  of 
Jesus  Christ;  and,  in  the  interim,  sent  his  Holy  Spirit  to 
enlighten,  strive  with,  and  convince  men  of  sin,  righteous- 
ness, and  judgment. 

"  VII.  In  due  time  this  Divine  person,  called  the  Logos, 
Word,  Saviour,  etc.,  etc.,  did  become  incarnate ;  sojourned 
among  men,  teaching  the  purest  truth,  and  working  the  most 
stupendous  and  beneficent  miracles. 

"  VIII.  The  above  person  is  really  and  properly  God ; 
was  foretold  as  such  by  the  prophets ;  described  as  such 
by  the  evangelists  and  apostles ;  and  proved  to  be  such  by 
his  miracles ;  and  has  assigned  to  him,  by  the  inspired 
writers  in  general,  every  attribute  essential  to  the  Deity ; 
bebig  one  with  him  who  is  called  God,  Jehovah,  Lord,  etc. 

"  IX.  He  is  also  a  perfect  man,  in  consequence  of  his 
incarnation ;  and  in  that  man,  or  manhood,  dwelt  all  the 
fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily  :  so  that  his  nature  is  two- 
fold— divine  and  human,  or  God  manifested  in  the  flesh. 

"  X.  His  Unman  nature  was  begotten  of  the  blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  through  the  creative  energy  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  but  his  Divine  nature,  because  God,  infinite  and 
eternal,  is  uncreated,  underived,  and  unbegotten  ;  and  which, 
were  it  otherwise,  he  could  not  be  God  in  any  proper  sense 
of  the  word ;  but  he  is  most  explicitly  declared  to  be  God 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  and  therefore  the  doctrine  of  the 
Eternal  Sonship  must  necessarily  be  false. 

"  XI.  As  he  took  upon  him  the  nature  of  man,  and  died 
in  that  nature ;  therefore  he  died  for  the  whole  human  race, 


74  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

without  respect  of  persons :  equally  for  all  and  every 
man. 

"  XII.  On  the  third  day  after  his  crucifixion  and  burial 
he  rose  from  the  dead ;  and,  after  showing  himself  many 
days  to  his  disciples  and  others,  he  ascended  into  heaven, 
where,  as  God  manifested  in  the  flesh,  he  is,  and  shall  con- 
tinue to  be,  the  Mediator  of  the  human  race  till  the  con- 
summation of  all  things. 

"  XIII.  There  is  no  salvation  but  through  him ;  and 
throughout  the  Scriptures  his  passion  and  death  are  consid- 
ered as  sacrificial:  pardon  of  sin  and  final  salvation  being 
obtained  by  the  alone  shedding  of  his  blood. 

"  XIV.  No  human  being,  since  the/aZZ,  either  has,  or  can 
have,  merit  or  worthiness  of,  or  by  himself,  and  therefore 
has  nothing  to  claim  from  God  but  in  the  way  of  his  mercy 
through  Christ ;  therefore  pardon,  and  every  other  blessing 
promised  in  the  Gospel,  have  been  purchased  by  his  sacri- 
ficial death ;  and  are  given  to  men,  not  on  the  account  of 
anything  they  have  done  or  suffered,  or  can  do  or  suffer,  but 
for  his  sake,  or  through  his  meritorious  passion  and  death 
alone. 

"XV.  These  blessings  are  received  by  faith  ;  because 
they  are  not  of  works,  nor  of  suffering. 

"  XVI.  The  power  to  believe,  or  grace  of  faith,  is  the  free 
gift  of  God,  without  which  no  man  can  believe ;  but  the 
act  of  faith,  or  actually  believing,  is  the  act  of  the  soul 
under  that  power.  This  power  is  withheld  from  no  man ; 
but,  like  all  other  gifts  of  God,  it  may  be  slighted,  not  used, 
or  misused ;  in  consequence  of  which  is  that  declaration, 
'  He  that  believeth  shall  be  saved  ;  but  he  that  believeth 
not  shall  be  damned.' 

"  XVII.  Justification,  or  the  pardon  of  sin,  is  an  instantane- 
ous act  of  God's  mercy  in  behalf  of  a  penitent  sinner, 
trusting  only  in  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  this  act  is 
absolute  in  reference  to  all  past  sin,  all  being  forgiven  where 
any  is  forgiven :  gradual  pardon,  or  progressive  justifica- 
tion, being  un scriptural  and  absurd. 


THE  EVANGELIST.  75 

"  XVIII.  The  souls  of  all  believers  may  be  purified  from 
all  sin  in  this  life  ;  and  a  man  may  live  under  the  continual 
influence  of  the  grace  of  Christ  so  as  not  to  sin  against  God ; 
all  sinful  tempers  and  evil  propensities  being  destroyed,  and 
his  heart  constantly  filled  with  pure  love  to  both  God  and 
man.  And  as  love  is  the  principle  of  obedience,  he  who  loves 
God  with  all  his  heart,  soul,  mind,  and  strength,  and  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  is  incapable  of  doing  wrong  to  either. 

"  XIX.  Unless  a  believer  live  and  walk  in  the  spirit  of 
obedience,  he  will  fall  from  the  grace  of  God,  and  forfeit  all 
his  Christian  privileges  and  rights  ;  and  although  he  may  be 
restored  to  the  favor  and  image  of  his  Maker,  from  which 
he  has  fallen,  yet  it  is  possible  that  he  may  continue  under 
the  influence  of  this  fall,  and  perish  everlastingly. 

"  XX.  The  whole  period  of  human  life  is  a  state  of 
probation,  in  every  point  of  which  a  sinner  may  repent  and 
turn  to  God  ;  and  in  every  point  of  it  a  believer  may  give 
way  to  sin  and  fall  from  grace.  And  this  possibility  of 
rising  or  falling  is  essential  to  a  state  of  trial  or  probation. 

"  XXI.  All  the  promises  and  threatenings  of  the  sacred 
writings,  as  they  regard  man  in  reference  to  his  being  here 
and  f  hereafter,  are  conditional ;  and  it  is  on  this  ground 
alone  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  can  be  consistently  inter- 
preted or  rightly  understood. 

"  XXII.  Man  is  a  free  agent,  never  being  impelled  by 
any  necessitating  influence,  either  to  do  good  or  evil ;  but  has 
the  continual  power  to  choose  the  life  or  the  death  that  are 
set  before  him ;  on  which  ground  he  is  an  accountable  being, 
and  answerable  for  his  own  actions  ;  and  on  this  ground, 
also,  he  is  alone  capable  of  being  rewarded  or  punished. 

"  XXIII.  The  free  will  of  man  is  a  necessary  constituent 
of  his  rational  soul ;  without  which  he  must  be  a  mere 
machine,  either  the  sport  of  blind  chance,  or  the  mere  patient 
of  an  irresistible  necessity;  and,  consequently,  not  accounta- 
ble for  any  acts  which  were  predetermined,  and  to  which  he 
was  irresistibly  compelled. 

"  XXIV.  Every  human  being  has  this  freedom  of  will, 


76  LIFE  OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

with  a  sufficiency  of  light  and  power  to  direct  its  operations ; 
but  this  powerful  light  is  not  inherent  in  any  man's  nature, 
but  is  graciously  bestowed  by  Him  who  is  '  the  true  light 
which  lighteneth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.' 

"  XXV.  Jesus  Christ  has  made,  by  his  one  offering  upon 
the  cross,  a  sufficient  sacrifice,  oblation,  and  atonement  for 
the  sins  of  the  whole  world  ;  and  his  gracious  Spirit  strives 
with  and  enlightens  all  men,  thus  putting  them  into  a  salva- 
ble  state ;  therefore  every  human  soul  may  be  saved,  if  it  be 
not  his  own  fault. 

"  XXVI.  Jesus  Christ  has  instituted  and  commanded  to 
be  perpetuated  in  his  Church  two  sacraments  only : 
1.  BAPTISM,  sprinkling,  washing  with,  or  immersion  in  water, 
in  the  name  of  the  holy  and  ever  blessed  Trinity,  as  a  (sign 
of  the  cleansing  or  regenerating  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
by  which  influence  a  death  unto  sin  and  a  new  birth  un- 
to righteousness  are  produced ;  and,  2.  The  EUCHARIST,  or 
Lord's  Supper,  as  commemorating  the  sacrificial  death  of 
Christ.  And  he  instituted  the  first  to  be  once  only  admin- 
istered to  the  same  person  for  the  above  purpose,  and  as  a 
rite  of  initiation  into  the  visible  Church ;  and  the  second, 
that  by  its  frequent  administration  all  believers  may  be 
kept  in  mind  of  the  foundation  on  which  their  salvation  is 
built,  and  receive  grace  to  cnable'them  to  adorn  the  doctrine 
of  God  their  Saviour  in  all  things. 

"  XXVII.  The  soul  is  immaterial  and  immortal,  and  can 
subsist  independently  of  the  body. 

"XXVIII.  There  will  be  a  general  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  both  of  the  just  and  the  unjust,  when  the  souls  of  both 
shall  be  reunited  to  their  respective  bodies  ;  both  of  which 
will  be  immortal,  and  live  eternally. 

"XXIX.  There  will  be  a  general  judgment ;  after  which 
all  shall  be  punished  or  rewarded,  according  to  the  deeds 
done  in  the  body  ;  and  the  wicked  shall  be  sent  to  hell,  and 
the  righteous  taken  to  heaven. 

"  XXX.  These  states  of  rewards  and  punishments  shall 
have  no  end,  forasmuch  as  the  time  of  trial  or  probation 


THE  EVANGELIST.  77 

shall  then  be  forever  terminated,  and  the  succeeding  state 
must  necessarily  be  fixed  and  unalterable. 

"  XXXI.  The  origin  of  human  salvation  is  found  in  the  in- 
finite philanthropy  of  God ;  and  on  this  principle  the  uncon- 
ditional reprobation  of  any  soul  is  absolutely  impossible. 

"  XXXII.  God  has  no  secret  will,  in  reference  to  man, 
which  is  contrary  to  his  revealed  will,  as  this  would  show 
him  to  be  an  insincere  being,  professing  benevolence  to  all, 
while  he  secretly  purposed  that  that  benevolence  should  be 
extended  only  to  a  few  ;  a  doctrine  which  appears  blasphe- 
mous as  it  respects  God,  and  subversive  of  all  moral  good 
as  it  regards  man,  and  totally  at  variance  with  the  infinite 
rectitude  of  the  Divine  nature." 

We  do  not  insert  these  remarkable  articles  as  setting 
forth  an  exposition  of  the  Methodist  theology,  (though  sub- 
stantially in  harmony  with  it,  with  one  exception,  to  which 
we  shall  have  occasion,  though  reluctantly,  to  refer  here- 
after ;  I  mean  that  numbered  the  tenth,  the  concluding  infer- 
ence from  which  varies  from  the  faith  of  the  Catholic 
Church,)  but  merely  to  show  with  what  effect  Mr.  Clarke 
had  even  then  applied  his  honest  and  vigorous  mind  to  the 
close  investigation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Hardly  more 
than  a  boy  in  years,  it  is  plain  that  he  had  already  become 
a  man  in  understanding.  The  good  people  of  Trowbridge 
and  Bradford  would  not  find  his  preaching  to  be  "yea  and 
nay,"  but  the  steady  inculcation  of  fixed  principles,  explain- 
ed with  precision,  and  applied  with  power,  for  doctrine  and 
reproof,  for  correction  and  instruction  in  righteousness. 

But  though  he  was  thus  confident  in  what  he  believed  to 
be  Divine  truth,  the  disposition  with  which  he  enforced  it 
was  not  that  of  arrogant  self-sufficiency,  but  of  humble, 
lowly,  and  prayerful  dependence  on  the  grace  of  God.  "  He 
never  entered  the  pulpit  but  with  the  conviction  that  if  God 
did  not  help  him  by  the  influence  of  his  Spirit,  his  heart 
must  be  hard  and  his  mind  dark,  and  consequently  his 
word  be  without  unction  and  without  fruit.  For  this  influ- 


78  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

ence  he  besought  the  Lord  with  strong  crying  and  tears ; 
and  he  was  seldom  if  ever  left  to  himself." 

He  has  given  an  instance  of  the  favor  thus  shown  him 
from  on  high,  in  giving  him  seals  to  his  ministry  and  souls 
for  his  hire,  which  I  cannot  help  transferring  to  our  pages. 
On  his  first  visit  to  Road,  a  country  village  between  Trow- 
bridge  and  Frome,  where  the  congregation  had  been  very 
small,  a  report  had  got  abroad  in  the  neighborhood  that  "  a 
boy  was  going  to  preach  in  the  Methodist  chapel  that  even- 
ing, and  all  the  young  men  and  women  in  the  place  were 
determined  to  hear  him.  He  came,  and  the  place,  long  be- 
fore the  time,  was  crowded  with  young  persons  of  both 
sexes ;  very  few  elderly  persons  could  get  in,  the  house 
being  filled  before  they  came.  As  he  preached,  the  atten- 
tion was  deep  and  solemn,  and  the  place  was  still  as  death. 
He  then  gave  out  that  affecting  hymn  : 

'  Vain,  delusive  world,  adieu, 

"With  all  of  creature  good ; 
Only  Jesus  I  pursue, 

Who  bought  me  with  his  blood  : 
All  thy  pleasures  I  forego, 

I  trample  on  thy  wealth  and  pride : 
Only  Jesus  will  I  know, 

And  Jesus  crucified.' 

The  fine  voices  of  this  young  company  produced  great  effect 
in  the  singing.  When  the  last  verse  was  ended,  he  said : 
'  My  dear  young  friends,  you  have  joined  with  me  heartily, 
and  I  dare  say  sincerely,  in  singing  this  fine  hymn.  You 
know  in  whose  presence  we  have  been  conducting  this 
solemn  service ;  the  eyes  of  God,  of  angels,  and  perhaps  of 
devils,  have  been  upon  us  !  And  what  have  we  been  doing? 
We  have  been  promising,  in  the  sight  of  all  these,  and  of 
each  other,  that  we  will  renounce  a  vain,  delusive  world,  its 
pleasures,  pomp,  and  pride,  and  seek  our  happiness  in  God 
alone,  and  expect  it  through  Him  who  shed  his  blood  for  us. 
And  is  not  this  the  same  to  which  we  have  been  long  pre- 
viously bound  by  our  baptismal  vow  ?  Have  we  not,  when 
we  were  baptized,  promised  to  renounce  the  devil  and  all 


THE  EVANGELIST.  79 

his  works,  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  this  wicked  world, 
and  all  the  sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh ;  and  that  we  will  keep 
God's  holy  will  and  commandments,  and  walk  in  the  same 
all  the  days  of  our  life?  This  baptismal  promise  is  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  that  contained  in  this  affecting  hymn. 
Now,  shall  we  promise,  and  not  perform  ?  vow,  and  not 
fulfill  ?  God  has  heard  !  Now,  what  do  you  purpose  to  do  ? 
Will  you  continue  to  live  to  the  world,  and  forget  that  you 
owe  your  being  to  God,  and  have  immortal  souls  which 
must  spend  an  eternity  in  heaven  or  hell "?  We  have  no 
time  to  spare.  The  Judge  is  at  the  door.  I  have  tried  both 
lives ;  and  find  that  a  religious  life  has  an  infinite  preference 
above  the  other.  Let  us,  therefore,  heartily  forsake  sin, 
and  seek  God  by  earnest  prayer,  nor  rest  till  he  has  blotted 
out  our  guilt,  purified  our  heart,  and  filled  us  with  peace 
and  righteousness.  If  we  seek  earnestly,  and  seek  through 
Jesus  Christ,  we  cannot  seek  in  vain.'  He  then  prayed, 
and  many  were  deeply  affected.  That  night  and  the  next 
morning  thirteen  persons,  young  men  and  women,  came  to 
him  earnestly  inquiring  what  they  should  do  to  be  saved.  A 
religious  concern  became  general  throughout  the  village  and 
neighborhood  ;  many  young  persons  sought  and  found  re- 
demption in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  The  old  people,  seeing 
the  earnestness  and  consistent  walk  of  the  young,  began  to 
reflect,  and  many  were  deeply  awakened ;  while  others, 
who  had  become  indifferent,  were  roused  to  renewed  dili- 
gence ;  and  a  hopeful  revival  of  religion  spread  through  the 
vicinity.  Thus  was  he  shown  that  the  very  circumstance, 
his  youth,  which  he  thought  most  against  his  usefulness, 
became  a  principal  means,  in  the  Divine  hand,  of  his  great- 
est ministerial  success.  Methodism  in  Road  continued  to 
prosper  during  the  whole  time  he  was  in  the  circuit;  and 
when  he  visited  them  several  years  after,  he  found  it  still 
in  a  flourishing  state.  In  fact,  half  a  century  from  that 
time  there  were  persons  still  living  in  Road  who  had 
maintained  a  faithful  conversation  from  those  days ;  and 
when  Dr.  Clarke  preached  his  last  sermon  at  Frome, 


80  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

shortly  before  his  death,  one  of  them  came  to  that  place 
to  meet  him." 

The  circuit  in  which  he  continued  to  labor  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  Methodistic  year,  extended  into  three  coun- 
ties, Wiltshire,  Somerset,  and  Dorset ;  and  comprehended 
the  towns  of  Bradford,  Trowbridge,  Shaftesbury,  Shepton- 
Mallet,  Frome,  Melksham,  Wells,  and  Devizes,  with  a 
number  of  villages.  His  colleagues  were  Messrs.  Wrigley, 
Pool,  and  Algar.  With  the  last  Mr.  Clarke  found  much 
congeniality  of  heart,  though  not  a  man  altogether  of  the 
same  type  with  himself  as  to  intellect  or  learning.  From 
one  influential  quarter  he  got  no  help  in  the  latter  depart 
ment ;  but,  no  doubt  unintentionally,  a  sore  and  injurious 
hinderance.  One  of  his  counselors,  though  a  man  of  un- 
doubted integrity,  labored  under  the  disadvantage  of  a  total 
lack  of  education,  and  a  temperament  in  which  sternness 
had  a  marvelous  resemblance  to  obstinacy.  At  Motcomb, 
a  village  near  Shaftesbury,  Mr.  Clarke,  observing  one  day 
a  Latin  sentence  written  in  pencil  on  the  wall  of  the  preach- 
ers' room,  relating  to  the  vicissitude  of  life,  wrote  under  it 
a  quotation  from  Virgil  (with  a  verbal  change)  corrobora- 
tive of  the  sentiment : 

"Quo  fata  trdhunt  retrahuntque  sequamur. 
Per  varies  casuf,  per  tot  discrinvina  rerum 
Tendimus  in  C<KLUM."—  JSneid,  v,  709 ;  with  i,  204,  205. 

This  met  the  eye  of  the  stern  monitor,  in  whose  esteem 
"  human  learning "  was  a  sin.  He  read  the  above  words, 
but  was  not  wicked  enough  to  be  able  to  understand  them. 
There  was  something,  however,  in  the  very  look  of  them 
which  stirred  his  godly  ire,  to  which  he  gave  expression  in 
the  following  lines,  inserted  as  a  pendant  to  the  Virgilian 

meter : 

"  Did  you  write  the  above 
To  show  us  you  could  write  Latin  t 
For  shame  1 
Do  send  pride 

To  hell,  from  whence  it  oauie. 
O,  young  man,  improve  your 
Time,  eternity's  at  hand." 


THE   EVANGELIST.  81 

I  make  no  comment  on  this  effusion,  and  should  consider 
it  too  insignificant  for  mention  here,  but  that  it  helps  to  un- 
fold an  admirable  trait  of  character  in  the  subject  of  our  biog- 
raphy :  I  mean,  great  tenderness  of  conscience,  and  a  dis- 
position to  renounce  favorite,  unexceptionable,  and  even 
profitable  pursuits,  if  they  became  stumbling-blocks  in  the 
path  of  the  weak-minded.  On  coming  to  the  room  at  Mot- 
comb,  in  his  next  turn,  the  poor  youth  read  these  words  of 
sanctimonious  folly  with  great  confusion  and  dismay.  He 
had  evidently  offended  some  sense  of  propriety  which 
reigned  in  another's  mind,  though  not  in  his  own ;  and  the 
people  of  the  house,  who  would  no  doubt  have  read  them  as 
a  sentence  of  condemnation,  would  henceforth  have  misgiv- 
ings about  him  as  a  preacher  of  the  right  kind.  Moreover, 
he  saw  that  scholarship  might  engender  pride ;  and  it  was 
too  plain  that,  instead  of  provoking  honorable  emulation,  it 
might  have  no  other  tendency  than  to  excite  envy.  Under 
the  influence  of  these  temptations,  he  sank  upon  his  knees, 
and  made  a  premature  vow  "  that  he  would  never  more 
meddle  with  Greek  or  Latin  so  long  as  he  lived  !"  What- 
ever he  thought  of  the  wisdom  of  the  objurgation  on  the 
wall,  the  manner  in  which  it  was  exhibited,  he  felt,  was 
most  unkind ;  and,  when  he  next  saw  the  writer,  he  told 
him  as  much.  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  did  you  not  admonish 
me  in  private,  or  send  me  the  reproof  in  a  note  ?"  "  I 
thought  what  I  did  was  the  best  method  to  CURE  you," 
was  the  reply.  Mr.  Clarke  then  told  his  sagacious  ad- 
viser what  uncomfortable  feeling  the  writing  on  the  wall 
had  produced  in  him,  and  how  he  had  vowed  to  study 
literature  no  more.  Whereupon  the  other  applauded 
his  teachableness  and  godly  diligence,  assuring  him  that 
he  had  never  known  a  learned  preacher  who  was  not  a 
coxcomb ! 

Let  no  reader  imagine  that  he  who  wrote  on  the  wall  was 
a  representative  of  the  views  of  the  Methodists  in  their  esti- 
mate of  learning.  There  have  been  a  very  few  exceptions 
to  the  common  rule  in  those  matters ;  but  no  body  of  men 

0 


82  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

can  entertain  a  more  solemn  and  religious  love  for  real 
erudition  than  they. 

It  was  not  till  four  years  after  that  Mr.  Clarke  was  able 
to  get  free  from  the  scruples  with  which  this  rash  vow  had 
trammeled  him.  To  this  point  we  shall  have  need  to  recur 
further  on.  Meanwhile,  those  philological  studies,  without 
which  he  could  never  have  been  the  expositor  of  the  Septua- 
gint  and  the  Greek  Testament,  were  rendered  impossible. 
Had  the  evil  spell  continued  to  work  on  Mr.  Clarke's  mind, 
this  fanaticism  would  have  deprived  the  church  of  God  of  his 
Commentary  on  the  Bible. 

At  length  the  year  rolled  round,  and  his  labors  in  his 
first  circuit  were  ended.  He  had  preached,  it  appears,  five 
hundred  and  six  sermons,  many  of  which  had  been  delivered 
at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning ;  in  addition  to  a  great  num- 
ber of  public  exhortations,  class-meetings,  and  religious  con- 
versations in  the  numerous  houses  where  he  passed  the  in- 
tervals of  time  not  spent  in  reading  or  travel. 

The  Conference  of  1783  was  held  in  Bristol.  As  Mr. 
Clarke  had  no  authority  to  be  there,  whatever  might  have 
been  his  wishes,  he  cherished  no  thought  of  going  till,  on  the 
1st  of  August,  he  received  by  letter  a  requirement  to  attend. 
The  next  day,  Saturday,  he  set  off,  and  reached  Bristol  that 
evening.  An  extract  from  his"  journal  will  give  us  a 
glimpse  of  a  Conference  Sunday  in  Bristol  in  those  days  : 

"  Sunday,  August  3,  1783. — At  five  this  morning  I  heard 
a  very  useful  sermon  from  Mr.  Mather,  at  the  chapel, 
Broadmead,  on  Isaiah  xxxv,  3,  4.  I  then  went  to  Guinea- 
street  chapel,  where  I  heard  Mr.  Bradburn  preach  on  Chris- 
tian perfection,  from  1  John  iv,  19.  This  was,  without  ex- 
ception, the  best  sermon  I  had  ever  heard  on  the  subject. 
When  this  was  ended,  I  posted  to  the  Drawbridge,  and 
heard  Mr.  Joseph  Taylor  preach  an  excellent  and  affecting 
sermon,  on  Rom.  v,  21.  This  ended,  I  returned  to  my 
lodging  and  breakfasted  ;  and  then,  at  ten  o'clock,  heard  Mr. 
Wesley  preach  .at  Broadmead,  on  Acts  i,  5.  After  sermon, 
h".  assisted  by  Dr.  Coke,  the  Rev.  B.  B.  Collins,  and  the 


THE   EVANGELIST.  83 

Eev.  Cornelius  Bayley,  delivered  the  holy  sacrament  to  a 
vast  concourse  of  people,  which  I  also  received  to  my  com- 
fort. When  dinner  was  ended,  I  heard  the  Rev.  B.  B.  Col- 
lins preach  at  Temple  church,  on  Mark  xvi,  15,  16.  I  next 
went  and  heard  Mr.  Wesley  in  Carolina-court,  on  Heb.  vi. 
1  ;  after  which  he  met  the  Society  at  the  chapel,  Broadmead, 
and  read  over  a  part  of  his  journal  relative  to  his  late  visit 
to  Holland.  To  conclude  the  whole,  I  then  posted  to 
Kingsdown,  where  I  heard  Mr.  T.  Hanby  preach  an  awaken- 
ning  sermon  on  1  Peter  iv,  18.  Thus  have  I  in  one  day,  by 
carefully  redeeming  time,  and  buying  up  every  opportunity, 
heard  seven  sermons,  three  of  which  were  delivered  out  of 
doors.  Surely  this  has  been  a  day  in  which  much  has  been 
given  me,  and  much  will  the  Lord  require.  O  grant  that 
I  may  be  enabled  to  render  Thee  a  good  account !" 

We  need  not  remark  here,  that  the  rareness  of  the  occa- 
sion only  could  justify  this  excess  of  hearing.  No  one  in 
his  senses  would  recommend  either  a  young  Christian  or  an 
old  one  to  hear  seven  discourses  in  a  day.  But  it  should  be 
considered,  that  Mr.  Clarke  was  himself  a  preacher,  who  had 
never  had  an  opportunity  of  listening  to  the  great  and  good 
men  of  the  time.  All  was  new  to  him,  and  he  did  well  to 
improve  the  season.  No  doubt  he  would  also  take  notes  of 
what  he  heard,  as  the  material  for  future  recollection.  It 
was,  therefore,  very  well  for  once ;  but,  as  a  habit,  an  over- 
plus of  sermon-hearing  must  be  pronounced  unfriendly  to 
true  improvement.  It  bewilders  the  brain  and  hardens  the 
heart.  Two  good  discourses  on  the  Sunday,  heard  with  at- 
tention, and  retraced  with  one's  Bible  in  retirement,  will 
yield  the  soul  a  profit  it  can  never  find  in  a  succession  of 
services,  in  which  one  set  of  ideas  and  impressions  must  be 
swept  away  by  the  influx  of  another. 

The  Conference  were  so  well  satisfied  with  the  steadiness 
and  promise  of  Mr.  Clarke's  character,  as  to  resolve  to 
admit  him  into  full  connection  at  the  end  of  his  first  year's 
itinerancy.  He  was  by  far  the  youngest  man  who  had  ever 
gone  out  "  to  travel ;"  aiid  his  reception  into  full  orders  was 


84  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

the  earliest  that  had  ever  taken  place.  On  this  occasion  his 
mind  was  deeply  affected.  "This  day,  Wednesday,  August 
the  sixth,"  writes  he,  "  I  have  promised  much  before  God 
and  his  people :  may  I  ever  be  found  true  to  my  engage- 
ments !  In  particular,  I  have  solemnly  promised  to  devote 
my  whole  strength  to  the  work  of  God,  and  never  to  be 
triflingly  employed  one  moment.  Lord,  I  fear  much  that  I 
shall  not  be  found  faithful ;  but  thou  hast  said,  My  grace 
shall  be  sufficient  for  thee.  Even  so  let  it  be,  Lord  Jesus." 
When  Methodist  ministers  are  admitted  into  full  connec- 
tion with  the  Conference,  they  receive  from  the  president  a 
manual  which  is  called  "  The  Large  Minutes."  The  copy 
which  was  presented  to  Mr.  Clarke  at  this  time  I  have  now 
on  the  table.  On  the  blank  side  of  the  title-page  stands  the 
usual  formula  of  reception,  signed  by  the  secretary,  Dr. 
Coke. 

"  To  ADAM  CLARKE  : 

"  As  long  as  you  freely  consent  to,  and  earnestly  endeavor 
to  walk  by,  these  Rules,  we  shall  rejoice  to  acknowledge 
you  as  a  fellow-laborer.  THOMAS  COKE." 

Underneath,  in  a  neat  handwriting,  we  have  the  follow- 
ing :  "  O  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  of  myself  I  am  unable 
to  do  these  things.  Therefore  give  me  divine  strength  and 
wisdom :  so  shall  I  be  enabled  to  walk  by  these  Rules,  and 
consequently  to  glorify  thee  in  the  land  of  the  living. 
Grant  this,  O  Lord,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake !  Amen.  A.  C." 

The  prayer  was  answered. 


THE  EVANGELIST.  85 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE     EVANGELIST. 

MR.  CLARKE  was  now  appointed  to  labor  in  a  large  tract 
of  country  in  the  counties  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  having 
the  city  of  Norwich  as  the  head  of  the  circuit ;  and  for  this 
new  sphere  of  Gospel  enterprise  he  lost  no  time  in  setting 
out,  traveling  the  whole  day  in  the  saddle.  The  Methodist 
preachers  in  those  days  were  all  horsemen.  The  country 
people,  all  over  England,  used  to  speak  of  them  as  "  the 
riding  preachers."  The  new  evangelists  were  decidedly  an 
equestrian  order,  who  prolonged  the  days  of  chivalry. 
And  among  these  soldiers  of  the  cross,  who  went  abroad 
through  all  the  land  to  comfort  the  afflicted,  rescue  the  op- 
pressed, and  save  the  perishing,  Adam  Clarke  had  now  been 
finally  enrolled.  He  wore  now  the  armor  that  St.  Paul 
describes  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  the  helm  and 
breastplate,  sword  and  shield  ;  and  never  more  laid  them 
aside  till  the  day  of  his  death.  In  thinking  of  him  now,  as 
he  pursues  his  way  with  much  solemn  musing  and  frequent 
prayer,  one  is  reminded  of  old  Spenser's  emblematic 
picture-words  in  the  "  Faerie  Queen,"  where  he  describes  a 
"  gentle  knight "  who  "  was  moving  o'er  the  plain,  yclad  iu 
mighty  arms  and  silver  shield :" 

"  And  on  his  breast  a  bloody  cross  he  bore, 

The  dear  remembrance  of  his  dying  Lord, 

For  whose  sweet  sake  that  glorious  badge  he  wore, 

And  dead,  as  living,  ever  him  adored. 

Upon  his  shield  the  like  was  also  scored, 

For  sovereign  hope  which  in  its  help  he  had. 

Right  faithful  true  was  he  in  deed  and  word, 

And  ever,  as  he  rode,  his  heart  did  yearn. 

To  prove  his  puissance  in  battle  brave 

Upon  his  foe,  a  dragon  horrible  and  stern." 


86  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

The  service  to  Avhich  Mr.  Clarke  was  called,  in  his  new 
circuit,  was  one  which  required  him  to  "  endure  hardness  as 
a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ."  The  people  among  whom 
he  labored  were  ignorant  and  depraved,  and  his  efforts  to 
bring  them  to  truth  and  righteousness  were  prosecuted  in 
circumstances  most  depressing  to  body  and  mind.  On 
arriving  in  the  city  of  Norwich  he  found  one  of  the  late 
preachers  lying  ill  of  a  fever,  and  unable  to  vacate  the  room 
which  had  been  assigned  as  his  own  sleeping-place.  In  this 
sorrowful  domicile,  which  he  describes  as  "  pestiferous,"  he 
got  such  rest  as  could  be  obtained ;  and  then  he  went  out 
into  the  circuit.  It  comprehended  two-and-twenty  towns 
and  villages,  and  was  traveled  every  month  by  a  journey  of 
not  less  than  two  hundred  and  sixty  miles.  Of  his  col- 
leagues, the  superintendent  was  Mr.  Richard  Whatcoat, 
who  was  afterward  sent  to  America,  and  there  became  one 
of  the  bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Mr. 
Clarke  describes  him  as  "  a  very  holy  man,  a  good  and 
sound  preacher,  diligent  and  orderly  in  his  work,  and  a  fine 
example  of  practical  piety  in  all  his  conduct."  He  pursued 
among  his  transatlantic  brethren  the  same  quiet  and  good 
career,  seeking  only  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
God,  both  in  himself  and  others^  and  died  at  length  in  the 
faith,  universally  esteemed. 

The  other  two  were  Messrs.  Ingham  and  Adamson ;  the 
latter  of  whom  was  "  a  young  man,  very  sincere,  and  who 
had  got  the  rudiments  of  a  classical  education ;  but  was  of 
such  an  unsteady,  fickle  mind,  that  he  excelled  in  nothing." 
The  next  year  he  retired  from  the  work.  The  four  preach- 
ers took  each  one  his  week  in  the  city,  and  then  three  weeks 
in  itinerating  the  circuit.  Both  in  town  and  country  they 
fared  very  poorly.  In  Norwich  itself  the  preachers'  resi- 
dence was  tenanted  also  by  another  family,  who  "  provided 
for  the  preachers  at  so  much  per  meal ;"  and  he  was  most 
certainly  considered  the  best  preacher  who  ate  the  fewest 
dinners,  because  his  bills  were  the  smallest.  In  this  respect 
Mr.  Clarke  excelled.  He  breakfasted  on  milk  and  bread, 


THE   EVANGELIST.  87 

drank  no  tea  or  coffee,  and  took  nothing  in  the  evening.  In 
short,  he  adapted  himself  to  these  dietetic  circumstances, 
and  endeavored  to  make  the  state  of  things  as  agreeable  and 
useful  in  the  domestic  department  as  he  could.  It  was  not 
without  some  allowable  hilarity  that  he  would  afterward 
tell  how  he  mended  the  bellows,  and  repaired  the  coal- 
shovel,  though  the  poker,  worn  away  to  the  stump,  defied 
his  ingenuity.  Nay,  obeying  the  letter  as  well  as  the  spirit 
of  the  "  Rules  of  a  Helper,"  "  Do  not  affect  the  gentleman," 
and  "  Be  not  ashamed  of  cleaning  your  own  shoes,  or  your 
neighbor's ;"  he  frequently  did  this  for  his  own  and  those  of 
his  brethren. 

Out  in  the  circuit  things  were  worse.  Except  at  a  few 
places,  the  accommodations  were  very  bad.  The  winter,  too, 
was  that  year  unusually  severe.  The  snow  began  to  fall  on 
Christmas-day,  and  lay  on  the  ground  for  more  than  three 
months,  in  some  places  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  deep.  The 
frost  was  so  intense,  that  in  riding  he  could  seldom  keep  his 
saddle  five  minutes  together,  but  was  forced  to  alight,  and 
walk  and  run,  to  prevent  his  feet  from  being  frost-bitten. 
In  the  poor  cabins  where  he  lodged,  and  where  there  was 
scarcely  any  fire,  and  the  clothing  on  the  bed  was  very  light, 
he  suffered  much,  "  going  to  bed  cold,  and  rising  cold."  In 
one  place,  I  have  been  told,  he  had  a  wooden  door  laid  upon 
him  as  a  succedaneum  for  an  upper  blanket.  He  could  in- 
dulge also  in  astronomical  contemplations,  as  the  stars 
shone  upon  him  through  chinks  in  the  roof.*  In  another 
place  he  lodged  in  a  loft  of  an  outhouse,  where  the  cold  was 
so  intense,  that  warm  water  which  he  brought  with  him  into 
this  arctic  region  froze  in  a  few  minutes.  In  such  circum- 
stances, I  wonder  not  that,  like  one  of  his  brethren,  who, 
while  laboring  in  Herefordshire,  "went  to  bed  at  night, 
boots  and  all,"  Mr.  Clarke  should  often  have  been  "  obliged 
to  get  into  bed  with  a  part  of  his  clothes  on,  strip  them  off 
by  degrees  as  the  bed  got  warmer,  and  then  lie  in  the  same 

*  I  knew  an  old  preacher  who  had  composed  a  long  poein,  which  he 
entitled  "Night  Thoughts,"  descriptive  of  similar  experiences. 


88  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLAKKE. 

position,  without  attempting  to  move  his  limbs,  every  unoc- 
cupied place  in  the  bed  which  his  legs  touched  producing 
the  same  sensation  as  if  the  parts  had  been  brought  into 
contact  with  red-hot  iron."  No  doubt  he  would  heneefor- 
Avard  understand  something  better  those  lines  in  Milton — 

"  The  parched  air 
Burns  frore,  and  cold  performs  the'  effects  of  fire." 

The  refreshments  of  the  table  were  in  general  keeping  with  the 
hardness  of  the  lodging — very  homely  food,  and  sometimes 
but  little  of  it ;  which  the  poor  people,  nevertheless,  most 
readily  shared  with  him  who  came  to  their  houses  and  their 
hearts  with  the  good  tidings  of  better  things  to  come ;  since, 
but  for  such  preaching,  they  must  have  been  almost  totally 
destitute  of  that  instruction  without  which  there  was  little 
hope  of  their  salvation.  It  was  by  these  means,  and  often 
in  these  conditions  of  privation  and  suffering,  that  the  Meth- 
odist preachers  spread  Scriptural  Christianity  through  the 
land,  and  became  the  instruments  of  improving  the  morai 
and  civil  life  of  the  great  masses  of  the  poor. 

Yet  not  always  welcome.  ,  In  some  parts  of  the  circuit, 
and  even  in  Norwich  itself,  they  had  not  only  to  bear  up 
under  the  discouragements  of  apathy  on  the  part  of  the  peo- 
ple, but  at  times  to  face  their  more  open  opposition. 
"They  were  called,"  says  an  historian  of  the  times,  "to 
meet  the  rude  assaults  of  the  mob,  who  did  not  wish  to  be 
disturbed  in  their  ungodly  courses ;  and  the  county  of  Nor- 
folk was  distinguished  for  this  kind  of  conduct.  Mr.  Clarke 
did  not  scruple  to  pronounce  it  the  most  ungodly  part  of 
the  British  empire  he  knew.  In  Norwich  the  preachers 
scarcely  ever  got  through  the  service  on  a  Sabbath  evening 
without  having  less  or  more  disturbance,  or  a  mob  at  the 
chapel-doors.  Even  Mr.  Wesley  himself  could  not  escape 
rude  treatment."  On  one  occasion  he  visited  Norwich  in 
company  with  Mr.  John  Hampson,  a  preacher  of  gigantic 
make,  and  the  strongest  muscular  powers,  nor  wanting, 
either,  in  strength  and  grandeur  of  mind.  When  Mr.  Wes- 
ley had  finished,  on  going  from  the  chapel  he  found  tho 


THE    EVANGELIST.  89 

street  crowded  with  a  mob  who  were  waiting  to  offer  him 
some  violence.  As  they  closed  in  upon  him,  Mr.  Hampson 
stepped  forward,  and  fronted  them  in  an  attitude  of  threat- 
ening. Mr.  Wesley,  fearing  he  would  really  attack  them, 
called  out  to  him  to  refrain ;  upon  which  Mr.  Hampson  re- 
plied in  a  thundering  voice,  "  Let  me  alone,  sir.  If  God 
has  not  given  you  an  arm  to  quell  this  mob,  he  has  given 
me  one ;  and  the  first  man  who  molests  you  here,  I  will  lay 
him  for  DEAD."  Mr.  Wesley  and  his  doughty  acolyte 
passed  away  unmolested. 

It  was  in  the  course  of  this  year  that  the  founder  of  Meth- 
odism, the  grand  itinerant  whose  circuit  was  the  whole 
kingdom,  and  whose  parish  was  the  world,  came  again  into 
that  part  of  the  country;  and  Mr.  Clarke  was  greatly  re- 
freshed in  hearing  him  preach  nine  sermons,  on  the  follow- 
ing texts :  "  We  preach  Christ  crucified."  "  Wherefore  He 
is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost."  "  Except  your  righteous- 
ness shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees, ye  shall  in  no  case  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
"  Put  on  the  whole  armour  of  God."  "  The  kingdom  of 
God  is  at  hand."  "Ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy 
Ghost."  "They  despised  the  pleasant  land,  they  believed 
not  His  word."  "  What  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for 
all  his  benefits  toward  me?  I  will  take  the  cup  of  salva- 
tion, and  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord."  "  While  we 
look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things 
which  are  not  seen :  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are  tem- 
poral; but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." 
Adam  Clarke  had  now  learned  to  love  Mr.  Wesley,  as  a  son 
loves  a  father.  With  him  he  had  now  the  privilege  of  con- 
versation concerning  the  state  of  his  soul,  from  which  he 
derived  much  edification  and  strength.  Referring  in  his 
journal  to  the  last  of  these  interviews,  he  adds  :  "  Here  I 
took  leave  of  this  precious  servant  of  God.  O  Father,  let 
thy  angels  attend  him  wheresoever  he  goes ;  let  the  ener- 
getic power  of  thy  Spirit  accompany  the  words  he  shall 
speak,  and  apply  them  to  the  hearts  of  all,  and "  [make 


90  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

them]  "  the  means  of  conviction,  conversion,  comfort,  and 
strength,  as  they  may  severally  require.  And  let  me  also 
abundantly  profit  by  the  things  I  have  heard." 

The  heavy  toil  of  this  year  produced,  apparently,  but  lit- 
tle fruit.  A  kind  of  invincible  ignorance  and  brutal  de- 
pravity marked  the  state  of  the  multitude  of  the  people ; 
and  Antinomianism  had  perverted  the  minds  of  many  who 
professed  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.  Yet,  doubtless,  the  day 
of  eternity  will  reveal  bright  evidences  that  these  labors 
were  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  His  holy  word  does  not  re- 
turn void.  Mr.  Clarke  had  the  honor  of  introducing  Meth- 
odism into  some  neighborhoods  in  the  eastern  counties, 
where  good  religious  effects  have  been  produced.  The 
town  of  Diss,  one  of  those  places,  has  since  become  the  head 
of  a  circuit.  The  people  of  God  in  the  different  congrega- 
tions were  edified  under  his  ministry,  and  the  more  intelli- 
gent among  them  discerned  in  him  the  signs  of  future  great- 
ness. As  to  cases  of  individual  conversion,  the  disclosures 
of  the  future  life  will  show  more  than  he  was  permitted  to 
ascertain  in  the  present.  But,  though  that  unfriendly  soil 
should  have  yielded  no  such  fruit,  it  was  not  for  want  of 
earnest  and  persevering  endeavors  on  the  part  of  this  good 
and  faithful  servant,*  whose  work  is  with  the  Lord,  and  his 
labor  with  his  God. 

By  the  Conference  of  1784  Mr.  Clarke  was  appointed  to 
the  East  Cornwall  circuit.  The  journey  thither,  about  four 
hundred  miles,  he  accomplished  on  horseback ;  and  for  the 
defrayment  of  the  expenses  he  received  a  guinea.  His 
whole  salary  in  the  Norwich  circuit  had  been  but  twelve 
pounds ;  and  of  this,  little,  I  ween,  was  remaining  when  he 
left  the  ground.  In  fact,  it  appears,  by  an  entry  of  his  own, 
that  he  had  but  half-a-crown  besides  the  guinea,  at  the  time 
of  his  setting  off.  He  rode  from  forty  to  fifty  miles  a  day, 
fasting  nearly  all  the  way,  as  the  poor  horse  required  nearly 
all  the  money  he  could  command.  A  penny  usually  served 

*  In  the  Norwich  Circuit  he  preached  450  sermons,  besides  exhorta- 
tion.s  innumerable. 


THE   EVANGELIST.  91 

for  a  breakfast,  and  a  dinner  too ;  and  at  nightfall,  at  the 
places  where  he  rested,  being  of  necessity  obliged  to  take 
something,  he  made  the  repast  as  light  as  he  could,  from  a 
tender  regard  to  the  infirm  state  of  his  purse.  He  reached 
London  on  the  Saturday,  (August  14th,)  and,  making  him- 
self known  to  his  brethren,  received  their  not  unwelcome 
hospitality,  and  helped  them  in  their  preaching-labors  on  the 
following  day.  At  that  time  Moorfields,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  headquarters  of  the  preachers  at  City  Koad, 
formed  an  unoccupied  space,  in  which  the  Methodists  had 
open-air  preaching.  Mr.  Clarke  preached  there  on  this 
Sunday.  While  addressing  his  motley  congregation,  his 
attention  was  arrested  by  the  singular  conduct  of  two  men, 
which  was  explained  to  him  many  years  afterward  by  one 
of  them,  who  said :  "  I  was  one  of  those  men ;  the  person 
with  me  was  my  brother.  We  both  heard  the  truth,  and 
hated  you  for  telling  it  to  us.  We  thought  you  were  too 
young  to  teach  others,  and  resolved  to  pull  you  down,  and 
do  you  injury.  For  this  purpose  we  made  our  way  to  the 
desk,  taking  our  stand  on  each  side  of  it,  and  encouraging 
each  other.  He  beckoned  me  to  do  it,  and  I  made  signs  to 
him;  but  neither  of  us  seemed  to  have  the  power.  We 
were  secretly  and  unaccountably  deterred.  At  length  we 
began  to  attend  to  what  was  said,  were  both  impressed 
with  the  force  of  truth,  and  I  am  now,  through  the  mercy  of 
God,  a  local  preacher  in  the  Methodist  Society." 

Next  day  our  itinerant  turned  his  face  toward  the  west, 
and  on  the  18th,  passing  through  the  scenes  of  his  last  year's 
labors,  found  himself  again  among  his  old  friends  at  Trow- 
bridge ;  where,  as  at  Bradford,  Shepton-Mallet,  and  some 
other  places,  he  spent  several  useful  days.  Once  more  re- 
cruited, he  went  on  his  way,  and  entered  the  town  of  St. 
Austell  on  Saturday,  August  the  28th.  He  here  learned 
that  the  circuit  comprehended  more  than  forty  places.  His 
colleagues  were  his  former  superintendent,  Mr.  Wrigley, 
and  Mr.  William  Church. 

In  Cornwall  Mr.  Clarke  would  find,  even  in  that  day,  an 


92  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

intellectual  element  which  differed  greatly  from  that  in  Nor- 
folk and  Suffolk.  The  people  in  this  western  peninsula  are 
distinguished  by  a  strong  sentiment  of  respect  for  real  re- 
ligion, great  reverence  for  learning,  and  a  kind  of  natural 
love  for  metaphysical  disquisition.  Cornwall  had  in  old 
times  a  strong  character  for  devotion.  The  primitive  Brit- 
ish Christianity  found  an  asylum  there.  In  what  we  call 
"the  dark  ages,"  the  religion  of  the  times,  such  as  it  was, 
exerted  over  the  people  of  these  coasts  a  lofty  and  powerful 
influence.  Hence  we  find  a  great  number  of  the  parishes 
still  called  after  the  names  of  eminent  saints,  whose  lives 
and  labors  wrought  once  great  miracles  of  mercy  among  a 
not  ungrateful  people,  and  of  whom  a  priest  and  poet,*  who 
loves  well  to  trace  their  haunts,  and  commemorate  their 
virtues,  has  thus  sung : 

"  They  had  their  lodges  in  the  wilderness, 
Or  built  them  cells  beside  the  shadowy  sea ; 
And  there  they  dwelt  with  angels  like  a  dream ! 
So  they  unclosed  the  volume  of  the  Book, 
And  fill'd  the  fields  of  the  evangelist 
With  thoughts  as  sweet  as  flowers." 

But  the  latter  Romanists,  and,  subsequently  to  the  Refor- 
mation, their  Protestant  successors,  failed  to  perpetuate  those 
zealous  works,  while  the  people  gradually  sunk  both  in  mind 
and  morals,  till,  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  inhabitants  of  some  parts  of  Cornwall  had  become  little 
better  than  barbarians.  It  was  then  that  Wesley  came 
among  them,  and,  with  the  still  small  voice  of  Gospel  truth, 
charmed  them  to  Christian  civilization,  and  brought  them 
back  to  God.  The  first  visit  of  this  minister  of  Christ  in- 
augurated a  new  era  in  the  religious  history  of  Cornwall ; 
and  from  his  days  to  our  own  the  work  of  improvement  has 
been  steadily  advancing. 

Mr.  Clarke  found  that  though  "  the  circuit  was  exceed- 

*  The  Rev.  R.  S.  Hawker,  vicar  of  MorwenRtow.  The  termination  of 
this  latter  name  has  a  religious  indication.  Like  Padstow,  Michaelatow, 
etc.,  it  points  out  a  station  for  prayer. 


THE   EVANGELIST.  93 

ingly  severe,  the  riding  constant,  the  roads  in  general  bad, 
and  the  accommodations  in  most  places  very  indifferent," 
yet,  unlike  his  last  year's  experience  in  Norfolk,  his  exhaust- 
ing labors  were  attended  by  visible  results.  Crowded  con- 
gregations received  him  as  a  messenger  from  the  Lord. 
Sinners  were  converted,  and  believers  edified  in  their  holy 
faith.  He  has  recorded  that  "  there  was  a  general  spirit  of 
hearing,  and  an  almost  universal  revival  of  the  work  of 
God.  Thousands  flocked  to  the  preaching ;  the  chapels 
could  not  contain  the  crowds  that  came ;  and  almost  every 
week  in  the  year  he  was  obliged  to  preach  in  the  open  air, 
even  at  times  when  the  rain  was  descending,  and  when  the 
snow  lay  upon  the  earth.  But  prosperity  made  everything 
pleasant;  for  the  toil,  in  almost  every  place,  was  compen- 
sated by  a  blessed  ingathering  of  sinners  to  Christ,  and  a 
general  renewing  of  the  face  of  the  country. 

"  In  St.  Austell  the  heavenly  flame  broke  out  in  an  extra- 
ordinary manner,  and  great  numbers  were  there  gathered 
into  the  fold  of  Christ.  Among  those  whom  Mr.  Clarke 
united  to  the  society  was  Samuel  Drew,  then  terminating 
his  apprenticeship  to  a  shoemaker,  who  afterward  became 
one  of  the  first  metaphysicians  Of  the  age,  with  several 
others  since  distinguished  either  in  literature  or  mechanics." 

Of  Mr.  Drew,  if  space  permitted,  we  could  write  many 
things  expressive  of  a  veneration  awakened  in  the  author's 
mind,  when  hardly  more  than  a  child,  by  the  reading  of  his 
"  Original  Essay  on  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul ;"  and  in 
later  years  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  occasional  con- 
versations with  the  great  reasoner  himself,  in  whose  mental 
and  moral  character  he  saw  much  of  the  dialectical  acumen 
of  a  Plato  combined  with  much  of  the  evangelic  grace  of  a 
St.  John.  The  history  and  example  of  his  life  have  been 
set  forth  by  his  son.*  Samuel  Drew's  works  should  not  be 

*  Drew's  earliest  work  was  a  Refutation  of  Paine's  "Age  of  Reason." 
It  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Rev.  John  Whittaker,  the  vicar  of  Ruan 
Langhorne,  (some  miles  between  St.  Austell  and  St.  Mawes,)  who  became 
Bincerely  attached  to  him,  and  afforded  him  some  invaluable  aids  in  his 
literary  enterprises.  Whittaker  himself  was  a  man  of  massive  erudition 


94  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

suffered  to  pass  into  oblivion.  The  choicest  of  them  at  least 
should  have  the  benefit  of  a  new  and  uniform  edition,  and 
so  be  commended  to  future  time.  In  them  the  lover  of  ab- 
stract meditation  will  always  find  something  to  please  his 
peculiar  taste,  and  never  pervert  his  best  principles,  while 
"  sitting  apart "  with  one  who 

"  In  elevated  thoughts  will  reason  high 
Of  Providence,  foreknowledge,  will,  and  fate, 
Fix'd  fate,  free-will,  foreknowledge  absolute, 
But  find  no  end." 

Mr.  Clarke's  ministry  was  prosecuted  in  a  great  variety 
of  circumstances.  The  Methodists  of  Cornwall  had  not  then 
the  spacious  temples  which  are  now  the  ornaments  of  their 
towns,  and  where  they  assemble  by  hundreds  and  thousands 
to  solemnize  the  worship  of  the  Almighty.  They  met  in 
those  days  under  the  roof  of  the  cottage,  in  the  kitchen  of 
the  farm-house,  or  in  such  humble  erections,  sacred  to  re- 
ligion, as  their  scanty  means  would  allow  them  to  build ; 
and  not  unfrequently,  when  the  pressure  was  too  great, 
preacher  and  people  would  go  forth  into  the  great  temple 
of  God,  and  worship  him  under  the  firmament  of  his  own 
power.  Preaching  out  of  doors  would,  however,  subject 
him  at  times  to  the  opposition  of  such  as  were  of  the  con- 
trary side.  And  on  one  occasion- Mr.  Clarke  was  carried 
by  the  parish  authorities  to  "  the  nearest  magistrate,"  who 
happened  to  be  the  Rev.  Sir  Harry  Trelawney,  who  had 
been  a  field-preacher  himself,  and  that  before  his  ordination. 
From  him  Mr.  Clarke  received  nothing  but  encouragement. 
Sir  Harry  strongly  advised  him  to  get  a  regular  license, 
and  so  put  himself  more  effectually  under  the  protection  of 

and  resplendent  eloquence.  His  "  Introduction  to  the  Holy  Scriptures," 
prefixed  to  Findel's  edition  of  the  Bible,  has  a  wonderful  grandeur.  His 
antiquarian  works  are  classical.  I  once  made  a  little  pilgrimage  to  Euan 
Langhornc,  to  see  the  place  where  he  lived  and  died — a  delightful  rural 
spot  on  the  banks  of  the  Fal,  in  Roseland.  The  great  scholar  reposes 
in  his  church,  beneath  a  plain  gray  stone  within  the  comtnunion-rails, 
with  the  simple  inscription,  "John  Whittakcr,  B.D.,  Vicar,  died  1808, 
nged  73." 


THE   EVANGELIST.  95 

the  law.  But  to  this  measure  Mr.  Clarke  had  always  an 
objection,  as,  not  being  a  Dissenter  in  principle,  he  scrupled 
to  take  the  oath  prescribed  only  for  such  as  are.  In  principle, 
he  was  always  a  moderate  Church  of  England  man  ;  and  I 
should  have  mentioned,  while  treating  of  the  time  he  spent 
at  Kingswood,  that,  a  confirmation  being  held  in  Bristol  just 
then,  he  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity,  and  received 
that  ordinance  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Bagot.  But  to  return : 
About  four  months  after  his  arrival  in  Cornwall  he  suffered 
a  violent  fall  from  his  horse,  which  had  nearly  proved  fatal. 
The  horse  had  formerly  belonged  to  Mr.  Wesley,  but  turned 
out  a  most  dangerous  beast,  from  the  habit  of  stumbling ; 
and,  although  he  could  scarcely  ride  him  ten  miles  without 
at  least  one  fall,  yet  such  was  the  feeling  he  had  for  the  ani- 
mal, for  his  former  owner's  sake,  that  he  had  not  as  yet  been 
prevailed  on,  though  strongly  advised,  to  part  with  him. 

On  this  occasion,  however,  the  injury  was  too  serious  to 
warrant  any  further  risk.  There  was  a  hard  frost  that  even- 
ing, and,  "  coming  over  the  down  above  Rothenbridge,  the 
horse  fell,  according  to  custom,  and  pitched  Mr.  Clarke  di- 
rectly on  his  head.  He  lay  some  time  senseless,  but  how 
long  he  could  not  tell.  At  length,  having  come  to  himself 
a  little,  he  felt  as  if  in  the  agonies  of  death,  and  earnestly 
recommended  his  soul  to  his  Redeemer.  But  he  so  far  re- 
covered as  to  be  able,  though  with  difficulty,  to  reach  the 
house.  As  a  congregation  attended,  the  good  people,  not 
knowing  how  much  injury  he  had  sustained,  entreated  him  to 
preach.  He  could  not  draw  a  full  breath,  and  was  scarcely 
able  to  stand.  Still  he  endeavored  to  recommend  to  them 
the  salvation  of  God.  That  night  he  spent  sleepless  with 
pain.  The  next  day  a  person  was  sent  with  him  to  stay  him 
up  in  the  saddle,  that  he  might  get  to  Port  Isaac,  where  he 
could  obtain  some  medical  help.  Every  step  the  horse  took 
seemed  like  a  dart  run  through  his  body.  He  got  at  last 
to  Port  Isaac.  Doctor  Twentyman,"  an  excellent  physician 
of  the  place,  "  was  sent  for,  and  bled  him.  It  appeared  that 
some  of  the  vertebrae  of  the  spine  had  been  injured.  He 


96  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

was  desired  to  remain  in  the  house  some  days,  which  he 
could  not  consent  to  do,  as  there  were  four  places  where  he 
was  expected  to  preach  on  the  following  day ;  and  this  he 
did,  at  the  most  serious  risk  of  his  life.  From  this  hurt  he 
did  not  fully  recover  for  more  than  three  years." 

With  the  worthy  physician  of  Port  Isaac  he  formed  a 
profitable  intimacy.  He  was  a  singular  character,  deep  in 
the  study  of  alchemy.  He  told  Mr.  Clarke  he  had  dreamed 
of  him  before  he  ever  saw  him.  He  then  described  the 
school-yard  at  Kingswood  where  he  met  him  in  the  dream, 
drawing  in  words  a  graphic  picture  of  the  spot,  though  he 
had  never  been  there,  and  had  never  heard  it  described  by 
others.  He  recommended  alchemy  as  a  study  which  brings 
man  nearer  to  the  Creator.  Mr.  Clarke  had  many  inter- 
views with  him,  and  never,  as  he  says,  without  being  the 
better  for  them. 

To  another  gentleman  also,  Mr.  Richard  Mabyn,  of  Cam- 
elford,  he  ever  after  felt  a  grateful  sense  of  obligation.  At  his 
house  the  young  man  found  what  he  had  long  been  a  stran- 
ger to — the  comfort  of  a  home ;  and  in  his  letters  written 
to  Mr.  Mabyn,  long  years  after,  he  still  expresses  his  affec- 
tionate acknowledgment  of  kindnesses  in  which  that  good 
man  proved  to  him  at  once  a  teacher,  a  parent,  and  a 
friend. 

He  continued  to  be  cheered  in  his  work  by  tokens  of  the 
Divine  benediction.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  at  Trowbridge, 
he  says  :  "  Among  the  children  there  is  a  most  blessed 
movement.  Numbers  of  them,  being  made  sensible  of  their 
need  of  Christ,  have  set  their  feet  in  the  paths  of  the  Lord, 
and  are  running  with  steady  pace  to  their  heavenly  Father's 
kingdom,  and  are,  contrary  to  the  nature  of  things,  turned 
fathers  to  the  aged.  You  may  remember  that  I  wrote  to 
you  something  concerning  a  Magdalene  whom  I  admitted 
into  Society.  Her  character  was  so  bad  before  that  almost 
the  whole  Society  opposed  her  admittance,  some  threaten- 
ing to  leave  the  class.  I  withstood  them  all,  and  proclaimed 
from  the  pulpit  that  I  would  admit  the  most  devil-like  souls 


THE  EVANGELIST.  97 

in  the  place,  provided  they  would  cast  aside  their  sins  and 
come  to  Jesus.  After  she  had  been  hindered  some  little 
time,  she  at  last  got  leave  to  meet;  and  O  how  wonder- 
fully did  God  confound  the  wisdom  of  the  prudent !  ever 
since  she  has  walked  and  spoken  agreeably  to  her  profes- 
sion. At  St.  Austell  the  Lord  has  lately  laid  to  his  hand, 
and  there  is  such  a  revival  now  in  it  as  I  have  never  seen 
in  any  place  before.  Numbers  are  lately  joined ;  and  our 
chapel,  though  the  largest  in  the  circuit,  is  so  filled,  that  the 
people  are  obliged  to  stand  on  the  seats  to  make  room ;  yet, 
after  all,  many  are  obliged  to  return  home,  not  being  able 
to  gain  admittance.  Last  Sunday  night  I  preached  there, 
and  was  forced  to  enter  at  the  window  to  get  to  the 
pulpit." 

The  incessant  efforts  of  this  year  wore  him  down  griev- 
ously. Five  hundred  and  sixty-eight  sermons,  many  of 
them  preached  out  of  doors  in  all  weathers,  besides  the  other 
duties  of  the  Methodist  itinerancy,  had  made,  by  the  time 
that  Conference  drew  nigh,  a  serious  inroad  upon  the  vigor 
of  his  constitution.  His  appetite  failed  and  health  rapidly 
declined.  Nature  called  for  rest  but  the  necessities  of  the 
work  to  which  he  had  committed  himself  gave  him  but  lit- 
tle time  for  respite  ;  for,  so  early  as  the  27th  of  August  in 
the  following  Methodistic  year,  we  find  him  entering  upon 
the  duties  of  his  new  appointment  at  Plymouth. 

Mr.  Clarke's  early  labors  in  the  West  established  a  sym- 
pathy between  himself  and  the  Methodists  of  Cornwall, 
which  lasted  through  his  life,  and  which,  on  their  part,  still 
survives  in  the  veneration  with  which  their  children  regard 
his  very  name.  He  was  certainly  enabled  to  set  before  them, 
both  in  doctrine  and  life,  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  Jesus :  "  by  pureness,  by  knowledge,  by  long  suffer- 
ing, by  kindness,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  love  unfeigned,  by 
the  word  of  truth,  by  the  power  of  God,  by  the  armor  of 
righteousness  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  by  honor  and 
dishonor,  by  evil  report  and  good  report ;  as  unknown,  and 
v.-t  well  known  ;  as  dving.  and  yet  living ;  as  chastened, 


98  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

and  not  killed ;  as  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing  ;  as  poor, 
yet  making  many  rich." 

Such  had  been  the  unction  and  effectiveness  of  his  popu- 
lar ministry,  that  the  people  in  the  St.  Austell  circuit  were 
earnestly  desirous  of  obtaining  his  services  another  year, 
and  a  request  to  that  effect  had  been  lodged  with  the  Con- 
ference, to  which  Mr.  Wesley  was  at  first  disposed  to  give 
his  consent.  But  an  unquiet  state  of  things  had  latterly 
prevailed  at  Plymouth,  which  had  just  issued  in  the  seces- 
sion of  a  strong  party  from  the  society  ;  and  Mr.  Wesley, 
who  knew  well  how  to  put  the  right  man  in  the  right  place, 
had  already  formed  such  an  estimate  of  the  talents  and  piety 
of  Mr.  Clarke,  as  to  be  assured  that  the  pulpit  he  occupied 
would  become  a  rallying-point  to  regather  the  scattered 
flock.  The  event  fulfilled  his  expectations,  and  in  his  new 
sphere  of  labor  our  young  evangelist  was  graciously  blessed 
and  made  a  blessing.  His  colleagues  were  Messrs.  John 
Mason  and  John  King.  Of  the  former,  whose  name  is  yet 
and  ever  will  be  much  honored  by  the  Methodist  people, 
Mr.  Clarke  has,  in  his  "  Letter  to  a  Preacher,"  put  on  rec- 
ord the  following  memorial :  "  Mr.  Mason  made  it  the 
study  of  his  life  to  maintain  his  character  as  a  preacher,  a 
Christian,  and  a  man ;  the  latter  word  taken  in  its  noblest 
sense ;  and  he  did  this  by  cultivating  his  mind  in  every  * 
branch  of  useful  knowledge  within  his  reach,  and  his  profit- 
ing was  great.  In  the  history  of  the  world  and  of  the 
church  he  was  very  extensively  read.  With  anatomy  and 
medicine  he  was  well  acquainted ;  and  his  knowledge  of 
natural  history,  and  particularly  botany,  was  ample.  In  the 
latter  science  he  was  inferior  to  few.  His  botanical  collec- 
tions would  do  credit  to  the  first  museums  in  Europe  ;  and 
especially  his  collections  of  English  plants,  all  gathered, 
preserved,  classified,  and  described  by  himself.  But  this 
was  his  least  praise  ;  he  laid  all  his  attainments  in  the  nat- 
ural sciences  under  contribution  to  his  theologic  studies  ; 
nor  could  it  be  ever  said  that  he  neglected  his  duty  as  a 
Christian  minister  to  cultivate  his  mind  in  philosophical 


THE   EVANGELIST.  99 

pursuits.  He  was  a  Christian  man,  and  in  his  life  and 
spirit  adorned  the  doctrine  of  God  his  Saviour.  The  propri- 
ety and  dignity  of  his  conduct  were,  through  the  whole  of 
his  life,  truly  exemplary ;  and  his  piety  toward  God,  and 
his  benevolence  toward  men,  were  as  deep  as  they  were 
sincere." 

Of  Mr.  Clarke's  own  mental  development  and  literary 
studies  we  will  treat  more  fully  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 
It  may  be  remarked,  however,  that,  while  in  this  circuit,  his 
intellectual  powers  seem  to  have  made  a  great  stride  in  the 
acquisition  of  positive  knowledge,  and  in  the  use  of  the  facul- 
ties by  which  this  is  combined  for  use,  and  employed  for  in- 
struction. He  read  much  and  well,  and  had  the  advantage 
of  access  to  works  from  which  his  inquiring  mind  had  hith- 
erto been  debarred. 

The  year  passed  on  in  poace ;  with  his  colleagues  he  lived 
in  fraternal  harmony,  and  the  troubles  of  the  society  were 
lulled  into  Christian  repose.  One  little  ruffle  only  seems  to 
have  occurred,  and  this  of  a  nature  almost  too  trifling  to 
merit  notice,  unless  considered  in  connection  with  one  of 
those  few  but  strong  prejudices  which  characterized  Dr. 
Adum  Clarke — a  kind  of  distaste  for,  or  a  disparagement 
of,  the  use  of  music  in  the  worship  of  God.  We  will  give 
the  incident  at  Plymouth  in  his  own  way  : 

"  This  year  the  society  at  Dock  built  a  new  chapel  at 
Windmill  Hill,  much  more  commodious  than  that  which 
they  had  opposite  the  Gunwharf  Gate  ;  but  so  much  had  the 
congregations  increased,  that  this  new  erection  was  soon 
found  to  be  too  small.  When  the  seats  of  this  chapel  were 
in  course  of  being  let,  he  noticed  for  the  first  time  what  he 
had  occasion  to  notice  with  pain  often  after,  how  difficult  it 
is  to  satisfy  a  choir  of  singers  ;  of  how  little  use  they  are  hi 
general,  and  how  dangerous  they  are  at  all  times  to  the 
peace  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  There  was  here  a  choir,  and 
some  among  them  who  understood  music  as  well  as  most  in 
the  nation ;  and  some  who,  taken  individually,  were  both 
sensible  and  pious.  These,  in  their  collective  capacity, 


100  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

wished  to  have  a  particular  seat,  with  which  the  trustees 
could  not  conveniently  accommodate  them,  because  of  their 
engagements  with  other  persons.  When  the  singers  found 
they  could  not  have  the  places  they  wished,  they  came  to  a 
private  resolution  not  to  sing  in  the  chapel.  Of  this  resolu- 
tion the  preachers  knew  nothing.  It  was  Mr.  Clarke's  turn 
to  preach  in  the  chapel  at  the  Gunwharf  the  next  Sabbath 
morning  at  seven,  and  there  they  intended  to  give  the  first 
exhibition  of  their  dumb-show.  He  gave  out  as  usual  the 
page  and  measure  of  the  hymn.  All  was  silent.  He  looked 
to  see  if  the  singers  were  in  their  place ;  and,  behold,  the 
choir  was  full,  even  unusually  so.  He  thinking  that  they 
could  not  find  the  page,  or  did  not  know  the  measure,  gave 
out  both  again ;  and  then  looked  them  all  full  in  the  face, 
which  they  returned  with  great  steadiness  of  countenance. 
He  then  raised  the  tune  himself,  and  the  congregation  con- 
tinued the  singing.  Not  knowing  what  the  matter  was,  he 
gave  out  the  next  hymn,  as  he  had  given  out  the  former, 
again  and  again ;  still  they  were  silent.  He  then  raised  the 
tune,  and  the  congregation  sang  as  before.  Afterward  he 
learned  that,  as  the  trustees  would  not  indulge  them  with 
the  places  they  wished,  they  were  determined  to  avenge 
themselves  on  Almighty  God  ;  for  he  should,  have  no  praise 
from  them,  since  they  could  not^have  the  seats  they  wished. 
The  impiety  of  this  conduct  appeared  to  him  in  a  most  hid- 
eous point  of  view.  .  .  They  continued  this  ungodly  farce, 
hoping  to  reduce  the  trustees,  preachers,  and  society  to  the 
necessity  of  capitulating  at  discretion  ;  but  the  besieged,  by 
appointing  a  man  to  be  always  present  to  raise  the  tunes, 
cut  off  the  whole  choir  at  a  stroke.  From  this  time  the 
liveliness  and  piety  of  the  singing  were  considerably  im- 
proved." 

On  this  question  of  congregational  singing,  Christians  in 
general  have  but  little  difference  of  opinion.  The  God  of 
nature  has  given  to  music  its  eternal  laws ;  and  the  God  of 
grace  has  ordained  by  revelation  that  this  most  beautiful 
provision  for  the  solace  of  our  spiritual  life  shall  be  const*- 


THE  EVANGELIST.  101 

crated  to  his  service  as  a  vehicle  of  instruction,  and  an  ex- 
pressive token  of  worship.  So  it  was  in  the  tabernacle  and 
temple  of  old ;  so  it  is,  by  apostolic  precept,  in  the  Chris- 
tian services ;  so  it  will  be  in  the  solemnities  of  the  resur- 
rection-life of  the  world  to  come.  As  to  the  abuses  of  it 
by  frivolous  or  weak-minded  persons,  the  Church  has  it  ever 
in  her  power  to  restrain  them  ;  but  the  use  of  it,  if  we  read 
our  Bibles  rightly,  she  has  not  the  liberty  to  abolish. 

The  Lord's  blessing  so  rested  upon  the  ministry  of  his 
servants  among  a  society  which  they  had  found  in  a  dis- 
tracted and  dwindling  condition,  that,  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
they  had  the  gratification  to  report  not  only  the  return  of 
many  of  the  wanderers,  but  an  accession  of  more  than  a 
hundred  members.  The  congregations,  too,  had  become 
immense.  The  people  of  the  towns,  and  the  marine  popu- 
lation of  the  ships  in  the  Hamoaze,  came  in  crowds  to  hear 
the  word  of  God.  Among  the  naval  men  who  attended  Mr. 
Clarke's  ministry  here,  he  mentions  Mr.  Hore,  afterward 
purser  of  the  "Venerable,"  in  which  Admiral  Duncan  com- 
manded when  he  beat  the  Dutch  under  De  Winter.  The 
friendly  warrantxjfficer  lent  Mr.  Clarke  some  good  books, 
and  among  others  Chambers's  Encyclopaedia,  which  was 
always  a  favorite  work  of  reference  with  him.  Mr.  Hore 
died  when  serving  in  the  fleet  off  Egypt.  Another  was 
Cleland  Kirkpatrick,  who  had  lost  an  arm  in  an  engagement 
with  Paul  Jones,  the  American  privateer  commodore.  Kirk- 
patrick, who  was  now  rated  on  board  the  "  Cambridge,"  was 
brought  under  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  joined  the  Society, 
became  an  itinerant  preacher,  fought  the  good  fight  of 
Christ's  service,  and  finished  his  course  with  joy. 

At  the  Conference  of  1786  a  new  field  of  enterprise  was 
opened  to  Mr.  Clarke.  The  people  at  Plymouth  had  been 
looking  forward  to  the  renewal  of  his  services  among  them ; 
but  their  wishes,  as  well  as  his  own,  were  somewhat  pain- 
fully crossed,  by  an  unexpected  appointment  to  the  Norman 
Isles.  In  one  of  that  beautiful  group  of  islands  Methodism 
had  already  found  a  promising  lodgment,  through  the  labors 


102  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

of  Robert  Carr  Brackenbury,  Esq.,  of  Raithby  Hall,  Lin- 
colnshire ;  a  gentleman  who,  having  tasted  himself  of  the 
good  word  of  God,  had  for  some  years  consecrated  his  time 
and  talents  to  the  great  work  of  making  it  known  to  his  fel- 
low-men. He  was  one  of  the  lay  coadjutors  of  Mr.  Wesley, 
and  in  fact  had  the  status  of  a  regular  itinerant  preacher. 
Having  been  led  by  Divine  Providence  to  establish  his  resi- 
dence for  a  time  in  Jersey,  he  had  entered  upon  a  series  of 
evangelic  operations  there,  which  were  followed  with  such 
propitious  results  as  to  induce  him  to  apply  to  the  Confer- 
ence for  the  appointment  of  another  preacher,  who  should 
extend  his  labors  to  the  neighboring  islands.  The  Confer- 
ence knew  that  Mr.  Clarke  possessed  already  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  French  tongue ;  and  this  circumstance,  com- 
bined with  the  admirable  attributes  of  character  which  they 
saw  unfolding  themselves  in  him,  inspired  the  leading  men 
of  that  body  with  the  wish  that  he  should  be  intrusted  with 
the  mission.  He  seems  himself  to  have  yielded  to  this 
arrangement  more  from  a  submission  to  the  will  of  his 
fathers  and  brethren,  than  from  any  pleasurable  impulse 
toward  it  in  his  own  mind.  He  was  yet  young  in  years  and 
experience ;  and  the  anticipation  of  having  to  bear,  in  an 
isolated  station,  the  responsibility  of  an  important  under- 
taking, threw  the  shadows  of  anxiety  upon  his  mind.  He 
was,  nevertheless,  prepared  to  encounter  any  difficulty,  and 
to  bear  any  inconvenience  which  might  occur  in  the  well- 
marked  path  of  duty.  "  I  am  willing,"  said  he  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Brackenbury,  "  to  accompany  you  to  the  islands.  I 
desire  only  to  receive  and  to  do  good ;  and  it  matters  little 
to  me  in  what  department  of  the  vineyard  I  am,  if  these 
ends  are  accomplished.  I  feel  God  is  here;  and  this  is  a 
powerful  incentive  to  obedience,  and  renders  duty  delight- 
ful." As  to  difficulty,  privation,  and  opposition,  he  had 
already  counted  the  cost,  and  had  learned  that  his  vocation 
as  a  laborer  in  the  kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ 
was  to  do  and  suffer,  and  through  that  ordeal  pass  to  the 
triumph  and  repose  predestined  to  the  faithful.  He  had  now 


THE   EVANGELIST.  103 

taken  for  his  motto  the  sentence  of  the  Grecian  sage: 
"  Stand  thou  as  a  beaten  anvil  to  the  stroke ;  for  it  is  the 
property  of  a  good  warrior  to  be  flayed  alive,  and  yet  to 
conquer."  Nor  this  alone ;  there  was  another  which  lay 
yet  deeper  in  his  soul :  "  When  I  am  weak,  then  am  I 
strong ;"  "  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strength- 
eneth  me."  He  now  held  himself  in  readiness  to  sail  with 
Mr.  Brackenbury,  who  had  gone  down  to  his  seat  in  Lin- 
colnshire to  make  such  arrangements  as  would  permit  him 
to  continue  for  a  while  longer  his  residence  in  the  islands. 

Some  delay  having  occurred,  Mr.  Clarke  took  the  oppor- 
tunity to  visit  his  brother  Tracy,  who  was  now  settled  in  a 
medical  practice  at  Maghull,  near  Liverpool ;  and  during 
the  few  days  of  this  visit  he  preached  in  several  places  of  that 
neighborhood.  Then,  repairing  to  Southampton  by  way 
of  Bristol,  he  was  refreshed  in  body  and  mind  by  a  sojourn 
among  his  friends  at  Trowbridge,  with  some  of  whom  he 
had  formed  a  religious  and  abiding  intimacy ;  and,  among 
them,  with  her  who  was  the  destined  companion  of  his  life, 
and  for  whom  friendship  was  now  fast  strengthening  in  his 
bosom  into  a  most  sacred  and  perpetual  love. 

At  Southampton  he  had  expected  to  find  Mr.  Bracken- 
bury,  but  a  fortnight  further  elapsed  before  he  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  meeting  him.  The  interim  was  spent  partly  at 
Southampton  and  partly  at  Winchester,  in  both  of  which 
places  he  preached  several  times.  In  the  cathedral  of  the 
latter  city  he  passed  many  hours  with  a  solemn  interest, 
and  stored  the  pages  of  his  journal  with  descriptive  notes  on 
the  various  antiquities  of  that  venerable  pile,  and  with  medi- 
tations suggested  by  the  sight  of  them.  I  select  two  of 
these  entries,  as  giving  a  favorable  idea  of  the  manner  in 
which  this  young  man  had  schooled  his  mind  to  profitable 
thought. 

"ON  EARTHLY  GLORY. 

"  How  little  is  worldly  grandeur  worth,  together  with  the 
most  splendid  distinctions  which  great  and  pompous  titles, 
or  even  important  offices,  confer  upon  men !  They  vanish 


104  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

as  a  dissipated  vapor,  and  the  proprietors  of  them  go  their 
way — and  where  are  they  1  or  of  what  account  ?  Death  is 
the  common  lot  of  all  men ;  and  the  honors  of  the  great,  and 
the  abjectness  of  the  mean,  are  equally  unseen  in  the  tomb. 
This  I  saw  abundantly  exemplified  to-day,  while  viewing 
the  remains  of  several  kings,  Saxon  and  British,  whose  very 
names,  much  less  their  persons  and  importance,  are  scarcely 
collectible  from  'rosy  damps,  moldy  shrines,  dust  and  cob- 
webs.' This  exhibits  a  proper  estimate  of  worldly  glory, 
and  verifies  the  saying  of  the  wise  man,  that  '  a  living  dog 
is  better  than  a  dead  lion.'  The  meanest  living  slave  is  pref- 
erable to  all  these  dead  potentates.  Is  there  any  true 
greatness  but  that  of  the  soul?  And  has  the  soul  itself 
any  true  nobility,  unless  it  is  begotten  from  above,  and  has 
the  spirit  and  love  of  Christ  to  actuate  it?  The  title  of 
Servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  I  prefer  to  the  glory  of 
kings.  This  will  stand  me  in  stead  when  the  other  is  eter- 
nally forgotten. 

"  In  the  time  of  the  civil  wars  the  tombs  of  several  of 
our  kings,  buried  in  this  cathedral,  were  broken  up  and 
rifled,  and  the  bones  thrown  indiscriminately  about.  After 
the  Restoration  they  were  collected,  and  put  into  large 
chests,  which  are  placed  in  different  parts  of  the  choir,  and 
labeled,  as  containing  bones  of  ancient  kings,  but  which 
could  not  be  distinguished." 

"THE  PROGRESS  OF  REVELATION. 

"Why  is  it  that  God  has  observed  so  slow  a  climax  in 
bringing  the  knowledge  of  his  will  and  of  their  interest  to  man- 
kind? for  example,  giving  a  little  under  the  patriarchal,  an  in- 
crease under  the  Mosaic,  and  the  fullness  of  the  blessing  un- 
der the  Christian  dispensation?  It  is  true  he  could  have 
given  the  whole  in  the  beginning  to  Adam ;  but  that  this 
would  not  have  as  effectually  answered  the  divine  purpose 
may  be  safely  asserted. 

"God,  like  his  instrument,  nature,  delights  in  progres- 
sion ;  and  though  the  works  of  both  in  semine  were  finished 


THE    EVANGELIST.  105 

from  the  beginning,  they  are  not  brought  forward  to  com- 
plete existence  but  by  various  accretions.  And  this  appears 
to  be  done  that  the  blessings  resulting  from  both  may  be 
properly  valued ;  as,  in  their  approach,  men  have  time  to 
discover  their  necessities;  and  when  relieved,  after  a 
thorough  consciousness  of  their  urgency,  they  see  and  feel 
the  propriety  of  being  grateful  to  their  kind  Benefactor. 

"  Were  God  to  bestow  his  blessings  before  the  want  of 
them  had  been  truly  felt,  men  would  not  be  grateful.  He 
gives  his  blessings  so  that  they  may  be  truly  esteemed,  and 
he  himself  become  the  sole  object  of  our  trust ;  and  this  end 
he  secures  by  a  gradual  communication  of  his  bounties,  as 
they  are  felt  to  be  necessary.  He  brings  forward  his 
dispensations  of  mercy  and  love,  as  he  sees  men  prepared 
to  receive  and  value  them ;  and,  as  one  makes  way  for 
another,  the  soul  is  rendered  capable  of  more  extended 
views  and  enjoyments ;  so  the  divine  being  causes  every 
succeeding  dispensation  to  excel  that  which  preceded  it,  in 
light,  life,  power,  and  holiness. 

"  We  first  teach  our  children  the  power  of  the  letters ; 
then  to  combine  consonants  and  vowels  to  make  syllables, 
to  unite  syllables  into  words,  and  then  to  assort  words  into 
regular  discourse.  To  require  them  to  attempt  the  latter 
before  they  had  studied  the  former,  would  be  absurd.  The 
first  step  qualifies  for  the  second,  and  that  for  the  third. 
Thus  God  deals  with  the  universe,  and  thus  with  every  indi- 
vidual ;  every  communication  is  a  kind  of  seed,  which,  if 
cultivated,  brings  forth  fruit.  '  Light  is  sown  for  the  right- 
eous, and  gladness  for  the  upright  in  heart.' " 

At  length  Mr.  Brackenbury  reached  Southampton.  They 
embarked  in  a  Jersey  packet ;  and,  landing  on  the  twenty- 
sixth  of  October  in  St.  Au bin's  Bay,  they  walked  to  St. 
Helier's,  where  Mr.  Clarke  found  himself  that  evening  an 
inmate  in  the  house  which  Mr.  Brackenbury  had  engaged  as 
his  residence. 


106  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 


CHAPTER  YH. 

THE    MISSIONAKY. 

THE  Norman  Isles,  those  beautiful  spots  which  adorn  the 
French  waters  of  La  Manche,  were  now  to  be  the  scenes  of 
evangelic  agencies  whose  results  have  made  a  multitude  of 
families  in  them  the  better  for  time  and  eternity.  Some 
while  before  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Brackenbury  upon  those 
shores,  several  persons  in  Jersey  had  been  awakened  to  a 
concern  for  the  salvation  of  their  souls,  and  had  formed 
themselves  into  a  kind  of  religious  community  for  mutual 
edification.  They  were  a  little  flock  without  a  shepherd, 
and  too  feeble  in  their  circumstances  to  attempt  a  regular 
church  organization  under  a  stated  ministry.  A  regiment 
of  soldiers  arrived  just  then  from  England,  among  whom 
were  some  pious  men  who  had  heard  Captain  Webb  preach 
at  Southampton  and  Winchester.  The  word  of  truth  min- 
istered by  that  good  servant  of  God  and  the  king  had  been 
so  blessed  to  them,  as  to  urge  them  to  recommend  to  these 
Jersey  Christians  to  open  a  communication  with  Mr.  Wes- 
ley, in  the  hope  that  he  would  be  induced  to  supply  them 
with  one  of  his  preachers.  They  did  so,  through  the  inter- 
vention of  Mr.  Jasper  Winscomb,  one  of  the  early  Method- 
ists of  Hampshire.  At  the  following  Conference  of  1783 
Mr.  Wesley  read  Mr.  Winscomb's  letter  to  the  assembly, 
and  asked  whether  any  preacher  found  it  in  his  heart 
to  obey  the  call.  It  was  then  that  Mr.  Brackenbury 
offered  his  services.  In  him  the  Conference  did  not  fail  to 
see  the  man  every  way  designated  by  Providence  and  grace 
to  initiate  this  new  enterprise  under  the  most  favorable 
auspices.  Nor  were  they  disappointed  by  the  events.  He 
lost  no  time  in  fulfilling  his  commission.  Having  found  his 


THE   MISSIONARY.  107 

way  to  Jersey,  he  hired  an  old  "  religious  house,"  which 
happened  to  be  vacant,  near  the  sea,  and  commenced  the 
public  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  A  procedure  so  novel  ex- 
cited conflicting  feelings  among  the  people  of  the  vicinity  ; 
some  were  pleased  and  grateful ;  others  stirred  up  to  oppo- 
sition, and  that,  at  times,  of  a  riotous  and  dangerous  charac- 
ter. Mr.  Brackenbury  kept  steadily  to  his  work,  and  soon 
began  to  make  a  sound  impression.  Another  place  was 
opened,  at  St.  Mary's,  and  then  another.  Some  pious  young 
men  of  good  talent  were  raised  up  to  exhort,  and  then  to 
act  as  local  preachers ;  societies  were  formed ;  in  short, 
the  Methodist  tree  had  struck  its  roots. 

When  Mr.  Clarke  joined  Mr.  Brackenbury  as  his  col- 
league, they  made  no  delay  to  extend  their  operations  to 
the  other  islands.  Accordingly,  after  preaching  a  few  times 
in  Jersey,  Mr.  Clarke  proceeded  to  attempt  the  introduction 
of  the  good  cause  into  Guernsey.  At  the  present  time  the 
English  language  is  fast  superseding  the  French  in  both  the 
greater  islands  ;  and  even  in  those  days  the  majority  of  the 
townspeople  were  conversant  with  both  tongues,  so  that  the 
missionary  found  no  difficulty  in  getting  an  audience,  though, 
as  yet,  too  little  accustomed  to  speak  French  to  venture  a 
sermon  in  it.  His  first  preaching  place  in  Guernsey  was  a 
large  warehouse  at  Les  Terres,  just  without  St.  Peter-le- 
Port;  and  among  the  congregation  he  found  some  who  were 
willing  to  open  their  houses  in  different  parts  of  the  town 
for  occasional  services.  Under  these  circumstances  he  com- 
menced those  three  years  which  have  borne  such  ample 
fruit  unto  life  eternal.  In  some  neighborhoods  he  found 
French  indispensable;  and,  in  conducting  a  service  in  that 
language,  was  under  the  necessity,  to  him  a  disagreeable 
one,  of  reading  a  discourse  which  he  had  previously  pre- 
pared. While  the  good  word  sunk  into  the  hearts  of  not  a 
few  with  saving  effect  in  both  islands,  it  stirred  up  a  spirit 
of  opposition  in  them  who  were  of  the  contrary  side.  Some 
specimens  of  this  we  may  extract  from  his  own  statements. 

"One   Sabbath   morning   Mr.   Clarke,  accompanied   by 


108  LIFE   OF    ADAM   CLARKE. 

Captain  and  Lieutenant  W.,  having  gone  to  preach  at  La 
Valle,  a  low  part  of  Guernsey,  always  surrounded  by  the 
sea  at  high  water,  to  which  at  such  times  there  is  no  access 
but  by  means  of  a  sort  of  causeway,  a  multitude  of  unruly 
people,  with  drums,  horns,  and  various  offensive  weapons, 
assembled  at  the  bridge,  to  prevent  his  entering  the  islet. 
The  tide  being  a  little  out,  he  ventured  to  ride  across  about 
a  mile  below  the  bridge  without  their  perceiving  him,  got 
to  the  house,  and  had  nearly  finished  his  discourse  before 
the  mob  could  assemble.  At  last  they  came  in  full  power, 
and  with  fell  purpose.  The  captain  of  a  man-of-war,  the 
naval  lieutenant,  and  the  other  gentlemen  who  had  accom 
panied  him,  mounted  their  horses,  and  rode  off  at  full  gal- 
lop, leaving  him  in  the  hands  of  the  mob.  That  he  might 
not  be  able  to  escape,  they  cut  his  bridle  in  pieces.  Noth- 
ing intimidated,  he  went  among  them,  got  upon  an  eminence, 
and  began  to  speak  to  them.  The  drums  and  horns  ceased, 
the  majority  became  quiet,  only  a  few  from  the  outskirts 
throwing  stones  and  dirt,  from  which,  however,  he  managed 
to  defend  himself;  and  after  about  an  hour  they  permitted 
him  to  depart  in  peace.  On  returning  to  St.  Peter's  he 
found  his  naval  heroes  in  great  safety. 

"  He  had  a  more  narrow  escape  one  evening  at  St.  Au- 
bin's,  in  Jersey.  A  desperate  mob  of  some  hundreds,  with 
almost  all  instruments  of  destruction,  assembled  round  the 
house  in  which  he  was  preaching,  which  was  a  wooden 
building  with  five  windows.  At  their  first  approach  the 
principal  part  of  the  congregation  issued  forth,  and  provided 
for  their  own  safety.  The  society  alone,  about  thirteen  per- 
sons, remained  with  their  preacher.  The  mob,  finding  that 
all  with  whom  they  might  claim  brotherhood  had  escaped, 
resolved  to  pull  down  the  house,  and  bury  the  preacher  and 
his  friends  in  the  ruins.  Mr.  Clarke  exhorted  the  friends  to 
trust  in  that  God  who  was  able  to  save,  when  one  of  the 
mob  presenfed  a  pistol  at  him  through  the  window  opposite 
to  the  pulpit,  which  twice  flashed  in  the  pan.  Others  had 
got  crows,  and  were  busily  employed  in  sapping  the  foun- 


THE    MISSIONARY.  109 

dation  of  the  house.  Mr.  Clarke,  perceiving  this,  said  to 
the  people,  '  If  we  stay  here,  we  shall  be  all  destroyed.  I 
will  go  out  among  them ;  they  seek  not  you,  but  me ;  after 
they  have  got  me,  they  will  permit  you  to  pass  unmolested.' 
They  besought  him  with  tears  not  to  leave  the  house,  as  he 
would  infallibly  be  murdered.  He,  seeing  that  there  was 
no  time  to  be  lost,  as  they  continued  to  sap  the  foundation, 
said,  'I  will  instantly  go  out  among  them  in  the  name  of 
God.'  Je  vous  accompagnerai,  ('I  will  go  with  you,')  said  a 
stout  young  man.  As  the  house  was  assailed  with  sho%vers 
of  stones,  he  met  a  volley  of  these,  as  he  opened  and  passed 
through  the  door.  It  was  a  clear  full-moon  night,  after  a 
heavy  storm  of  hail  and  rain.  He  walked  forward.  The 
mob  divided  to  the  right  and  left,  and  made  an  ample  pass- 
age for  him  and  the  young  man  who  followed  him  to  pass 
through.  This  they  did  to  the  very  skirts  of  the  hundreds 
who  were  assembled  with  drums,  horns,  spades,  forks,  blud- 
geons, etc.,  to  take  the  life  of  a  man  whose  only  crime 
was  proclaiming  to  lost  sinners  redemption  through  the 
blood  of  the  cross.  During  the  whole  time  of  his  passing 
through  the  mob  there  was  a  death-like  silence,  nor  was 
there  any  motion  but  what  was  necessary  to  give  him  a  free 
passage.  Either  their  eyes  were  holden  that  they  could  not 
know  him,  or  they  were  so  overawred  by  the  power  of  God, 
that  they  could  not  lift  a  hand  or  utter  a  word  against  him. 
The  poor  people,  finding  all  was  quiet,  came  out  a  little  after, 
and  passed  away,  not  one  of  them  being  either  hurt  or  mo- 
lested. In  a  few  minutes  the  mob  seemed  to  awake  as 
from  a  dream,  and,  finding  that  their  prey  had  been  plucked 
out  of  their  teeth,  they  knew  not  how,  attacked  the  house 
afresh,  broke  every  square  of  glass  in  the  windows,  and 
scarcely  left  a  whole  tile  upon  the  roof.  He  afterward 
learned  that  their  design  was  to  put  him  in  the  sluice  of  an 
overshot  water-mill,  by  which  he  must  have  been  crushed 
in  pieces  ! 

"  The  next  Lord's  day  he  went  to  the  same  place.     The 
mob  rose  again :   and,  when  they  began  to  make  a  tumult, 


110  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

he  called  on  them  to  hear  him  a  few  moments ;  when  those 
who  appeared  to  have  most  influence  grew  silent,  and  stilled 
the  rest.  He  spoke  to  them  to  this  effect :  '  I  have  never 
done  any  of  you  any  harm ;  my  heartiest  wish  was,  and  is, 
to  do  you  good.  I  could  tell  you  many  things,  by  which 
you  might  grow  wise  unto  salvation,  would  you  but  listen 
to  them.  Why  do  you  persecute  a  man  who  never  can  be 
your  enemy,  and  wishes  to  show  that  he  is  your  friend  ? 
You  cannot  be  Christians,  who  seek  to  destroy  a  man  be- 
cause he  tells  you  the  truth.  But  are  you  even  men  ?  Do 
you  deserve  that  name1?  I  am  but  an  individual,  and  un- 
armed ;  and  hundreds  of  you  join  together,  to  attack  and 
destroy  this  single  unarmed  man.  Is  not  this  to  act  like 
cowards  and  assassins  ?  I  am  a  man,  and  a  Christian.  I 
fear  you  not  as  a  man  ;  I  would  not  turn  my  back  upon  the 
best  of  you,  and  could  probably  put  your  chief  under  my 
feet.  St.  Paul  the  apostle  was  assailed  in  like  manner  by 
the  heathens :  they  also  were  dastards  and  cowards.  The 
Scripture  does  not  call  them  men;  but,  according  to  the 
English  translation,  certain  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort : 
or,  according  to  your  own,  which  you  better  understand,  les 
batteurs  de  pave — la  canaille.  O,  shame  on  you,  to  come 
in  multitudes  to  attack  an  inoffensive  stranger  in  your  island, 
who  comes  only  to  call  you  from  wickedness  to  serve  the 
living  God,  and  to  show  you  the  way  which  will  lead  you 
to  everlasting  blessedness !'  He  paused — there  was  a  shout, 
'  He  is  a  clever  fellow  ;  he  shall  preach,  and  we  will  hear 
him.'  They  were  as  good  as  their  word;  he  proceeded 
without  any  further  hinderance  from  them,  and  they  never 
after  gave  him  any  molestation. 

"  The  little  preaching-house  being  nearly  destroyed,  he 
some  Sabbaths  afterward  attempted  to  preach  out  of  doors. 
The  mob  having  giving  up  persecution,  one  of  the  magis- 
trates of  St.  Aubin  took  up  the  business,  came  to  the  place 
with  a  mob  of  his  own,  and  the  drummer  of  the  regiment 
stationed  at  the  place ;  pulled  down  Mr.  Clarke  while  he 
was  at  prayer,  and  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  the 


THE   MISSIONARY.  Ill 

canaille  he  had  brought  with  him.  The  drummer  attended 
him  out  of  the  town,  beating  the  'Rogues'  March'  on  his 
drum,  and  beating  him  frequently  with  the  drumsticks,  from 
the  strokes  of  which,  and  other  misusages,  he  did  not  recov- 
er for  some  weeks.  But  he  wearied  out  all  his  persecutors. 
There  were  several  who  heard  the  word  gladly  ;  and  for 
their  sakes  he  freely  ventured  himself,  till  at  last  all  oppo- 
sition ceased." 

From  the  rude  encounters  he  had  thus  sometimes  to  meet 
in  the  discharge  of  his  mission  work,  Mr.  Clarke  found  a 
grateful  relief  in  Guernsey  in  the  privilege  of  residing  with 
the  family  of  Mr.  De  Jersey,  at  Mon  Plaisir,  an  old  manor 
farm-house,  about  a  mile  from  St.  Peter's.  Every  attribute 
of  this  favored  spot,*  the  Hesperide  climate,  the  scenery, 
the  commodious  and  tranquil  mansion  and  gardens,  where 
the  myrtle  and  laurels  rise  to  the  proportions  of  stately 
trees,  and  the  orange  ripens  in  the  open  air,  all  combined  to 
render  it  a  most  desirable  asylum  for  the  student  bent  on 
learning,  or  the  laborer  sighing  for  repose.  The  writer  of 
these  pages  can  never  forget  the  pleasure  with  which,  during 
a  ministerial  residence  in  Guernsey,  he  has  often  visited  this 
spot ;  where,  under  the  leafy  shade  of  a  bower  formed  of 
the  entwined  boughs  of  a  cluster  of  fig-trees,  the  family  used 
to  tell  him  how,  in  that  very  summer-house,  Dr.  Adam 
Clarke  had  spent  so  many  hours  in  reading  his  Bible  and 
writing  his  sermons.  The  family  of  Mon  Plaisir,  of  whom 
the  Rev.  Henry  De  Jersey,  now  of  the  French  Conference, 
is  one  of  the  worthy  representatives,  embraced  the  cause  of 
Methodism  with  their  whole  heart.  One  of  the  first  of  the 
many  good  offices  which  the  elder  Mr.  De  Jersey  performed, 

*  I  speak  of  Mon  Plaisir  as  I  knew  it  some  years  ago,  and  as,  I  pre- 
sume, it  still  is.  In  writing  about  the  fertility  of  the  islands,  Dr.  Clarke 
said  that  he  had  seen  cabbages  in  Jersey  seven  feet  high.  In  Mr.  De 
Jersey's  garden  there  were  gathered  daily,  Sundays  excepted,  for  nearlj 
six  weeks,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  pounds'  weight  of  strawberries 
All  other  fruit  in  proportion,  both  in  quantity  and  flavor.  In  Mr.  Brack 
eubury's  garden,  at  St.  Heller's,  he  cut  down  a  bunch  of  grapes 
weighed  about  twenty  pounds. 


112  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

for  the  service  of  the  good  cause  among  them,  was  to  build 
a  room  on  the  north  side  of  the  house  that  should  serve  for 
a  domestic  chapel,  to  which  he  could  invite  the  inhabitants 
round  about.  Mr.  Clarke,  as  the  chaplain  of  the  place,  held 
stated  services  in  this  room  on  Thursday  and  Saturday  even- 
ings ;  offering  the  first  prayer  in  English,  and  preaching 
the  sermon  in  French,  with  a  prayer  in  the  same  language. 

In  these  sequestered  shades  our  friend  applied  himself  with 
new  vigor  to  those  more  solemn  studies  which  were  destined 
to  give  character  to  his  after-life.  He  had  long  felt  that  the 
vow,  so  foolishly  made  four  years  before,  to  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  Greek  and  Latin,  was  wrong  in  itself,  as 
well  as  unadvised,  and  that  he  could  conscientiously  renounce 
it.  In  resuming  those  languages,  he  found  that  long  cessa- 
tion from  classical  reading  rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to 
begin  again  in  that  department  with  the  grammars  them- 
selves. But,  having  by  dint  of  effort  recovered  his  lost 
ground,  he  brought  his  new  acquisitions  to  bear  upon  the 
study  of  the  Septuagint  Bible  and  Greek  Testament,  for  the 
purposes,  and  in  the  manner,  to  which  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  refer  more  fully  hereafter.  It  was  now,  also,  that 
with  a  moderate  knowledge  of  Hebrew  he  struck  out  into 
the  study  of  Chaldee  and  Syriac,  by  the  help  of  Bishop 
Walton's  "Introduction  to  the  Oriental  Languages,"  the 
Scholia  Syriaca  of  Leusden,  and  some  other  works  to 
which  he  had  access  in  the  public  library  at  Jersey.  Before 
he  left  the  islands  he  obtained  possession  of  a  copy  of  Wal- 
ton's Polyglot  Bible  of  his  own.  True  to  those  instincts 
which  Providence  and  grace  had  implanted  in  his  heart,  he 
began  even  now  to  turn  this  Biblical  knowledge  to  account, 
by  committing  to  paper  memoranda  for  notes  on  the  Gos- 
pels, which  formed  the  first  nucleus  of  his  future  Commentary. 

Meantime  the  great  objects  of  his  mission  were  carried 
on  with  energy.  In  the  course  of  the  year  he  was  moved 
to  attempt  the  introduction  of  preaching  into  the  island  of 
Alderney.  'In  recounting  to  Mr.  Wesley  the  manner  in 
which  this  was  carried  into  effect,  he  says :  "  My  design  be- 


THE   MISSIONARY.  113 

ing  made  public,  many  hiiiderances  were  thrown  in  my  way. 
It  was  reported  that  the  governor  had  threatened  to  prohibit 
my  landing;  and  that,  in  case  he  found  me  on  the  island, 
he  would  transport  me  to  the  Caskets,  (a  rock  in  the  sea, 
about  three  leagues  west  of  Alderuey,  on  which  there  is  a 
light-house.)  These  threatenings,  being  published  here,  ren- 
dered it  very  difficult  for  me  to  procure  a  passage,  as  sev- 
eral of  my  friends  were  against  my  going,  fearing  bad  con- 
sequences ;  and  none  of  the  captains  who  traded  to  the  island 
were  willing  to  take  me,  fearing  to  incur  the  displeasure  of 
the  governor,  notwithstanding  that  I  offered  them  anything 
they  could  reasonably  demand  for  my  passage.  I  thought 
at  last  I  should  be  obliged  to  hire  one  of  the  English  pack- 
ets, as  I  was  determined  to  go,  by  God's  grace,  at  all  events. 
"  Having  waited  a  long  time,  watching  sometimes  day  and 
night,  I  at  last  got  a  vessel  bound  for  the  island,  in  which 
I  embarked;  and  after  a  few  hours,  though  not  without 
some  fatigue  and  sickness,  we  came  to  the  south-west  side 
of  the  island,  where  we  were  obliged  to  cast  anchor,  as  the 
tide  was  too  far  spent  to  carry  us  round  to  the  harbor.  The 
captain  put  me  and  some  others  on  shore  with  the  boat.  I 
climbed  the  rocks,  and  got  to  the  top  of  the  island,  thanking 
God  for  my  passage.  But  now  I  had  some  new  difficulties 
to  encounter.  I  knew  not  where  to  go :  I  had  no  acquaint- 
ance in  the  place,  nor  had  any  one  invited  me  thither.  For 
some  time  I  was  perplexed,  till  that  word  of  the  God  of 
missionaries  came  powerfully  to  me, '  Into  whatsoever  house 
ye  enter,  first  say,  Peace  be  to  this  house.  And  in  the  same 
house  remain,  eating  and  drinking  such  things  as  they  give.' 
From  this  I  took  courage,  and  proceeded  to  the  town,  which 
is  about  a  mile  distant  from  the  harbor.  After  having 
walked  some  way  into  it,  I  took  particular  notice  of  a  very 
poor  cottage,  into  which  I  felt  a  strong  inclination  to  enter. 
I  did  so,  with  a  '  Peace  be  unto  this  house,'  and  found  in  it  an 
old  man  and  woman,  who,  having  understood  my  business, 
bade  me  welcome  to  the  best  food  they  had,  to  a  little  cham- 
ber where  I  might  sleep,  and  (what  was  still  more  accept- 


114  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

able)  to  their  house  to  preach  in.  On  hearing  this  I  saw 
plainly  that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me  for  good ; 
and  I  thanked  him,  and  took  courage. 

"Being  unwilling  to  lose  any  time,  I  told  them  I  would 
preach  that  evening  if  they  would  procure  me  a  congrega- 
tion. This  strange  news  spread  rapidly  through  the  town ; 
and  long  before  the  appointed  hour  a  multitude  of  people 
flocked  together,  to  whom  I  spoke  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
It  was  with  difficulty  I  could  persuade  them  to  go  away, 
after  promising  to  preach  to  them  again  the  next  evening. 

"I  then  retired  to  my  little  apartment,  where  I  had 
scarcely  rested  twenty  minutes,  when  the  good  woman  of 
the  house  came  and  entreated  me  to  come  down  and  preach 
again,  as  several  of  the  gentry,  among  whom  was  one  of  the 
justices,  were  come  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say.  1  stepped 
down  immediately,  and  found  the  house  once  more  quite 
full.  Deep  attention  sat  on  every  face,  while  I  showed  the 
great  need  they  stood  in  of  a  Saviour,  and  exhorted  them  to 
turn  at  once  from  their  iniquities  to  the  living  God.  I  con- 
tinued in  this  good  work  about  an  hour,  having  received 
peculiar  assistance  from  on  high;  and  concluded  with  in- 
forming them  what  my  design  was  in  visiting  the  island, 
and  the  motives  which  had  induced  me.  Having  ended,  the 
justice  stepped  forward,  exchanged  a  few  very  civil  words 
with  me,  and  desired  to  see  the  book  out  of  which  I  had 
been  speaking.  I  gave  it  into  his  hand :  he  looked  over  it 
with  attention,  and  asked  me  several  questions,  all  which  I 
answered  apparently  to  his  satisfaction.  Having  bestowed 
a  few  more  hearty  advices  on  him  and  the  congregation, 
they  all  quietly  departed ;  and  the  concern  evident  on  many 
of  their  countenances  fully  proved  that  God  had  added  his 
testimony  to  that  of  his  feeble  servant.  The  next  evening 
1  preached  again  to  a  large  attentive  company,  to  whom,  I 
trust,  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  not  in  vain. 

"  But  a  singular  thing  took  place  the  next  day.  While  I 
sat  at  dinner,  a  constable,  from  a  person  in  authority,  came 
to  solicit  my  immediate  appearance  at  a  place  called  the 


THE   MISSIONARY.  115 

Bray,  (where  several  respectable  families  live,  and  where 
the  governor's  stores  are  kept,)  to  preach  to  a  company  of 
gentlemen  and  ladies,  who  were  waiting,  and  at  whose  de- 
sire one  of  the  large  store-rooms  was  prepared  for  that  pur- 
pose. I  went  without  delay,  and  was  brought  by  the  lictor 
to  his  master's  apartment,  who  behaved  with  much  civility, 
told  me  the  reason  of  his  sending  for  me,  and  begged  I  would 
preach  without  delay.  I  willingly  consented,  and  in  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour  a  large  company  was  assembled.  The  gentry 
were  not  so  partial  to  themselves  as  to  exclude  several  sail- 
ors, smugglers,  and  laborers  from  hearing  with  them.  The 
Lord  was  with  me,  and  enabled  me  to  explain,  from.Prov. 
xii.  26,  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  righteous,  and  to 
prove  that  such  a  one  was  beyond  all  comparison  more 
excellent  than  his  ungodly  neighbor,  however  great,  rich, 
wise,  or  important  he  might  be  in  the  eyes  of  men.  All 
heard  with  deep  attention,  save  an  English  gentleman,  so 
called,  who  walked  out  about  the  middle  of  the  discourse. 

"  The  next  Sabbath  morning,  being  invited  to  preach  in 
the  English  church,  I  gladly  accepted  it;  and  in  the  evening 
preached  in  the  large  warehouse  at  the  Bray,  to  a  much 
larger  congregation,  composed  of  the  principal  gentry  of  the 
island,  together  with  justices,  jurats,  constables,  &c.  The 
Lord  was  again  with  me,  and  enabled  me  to  declare  his 
sacred  counsel  without  fear. 

"  The  next  day,  being  the  time  appointed  for  my  return, 
many  were  unwilling  that  I  should  go ;  saying,  '  We  have 
much  need  of  such  preaching,  and  such  a  preacher ;  we  wish 
you  would  abide  in  the  island,  and  go  back  no  more.'  The 
tide  serving  at  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  I  at- 
tended at  the  beach,  in  order  to  embark ;  but — the  utmost 
of  the  flood  did  not  set  the  vessel  afloat.  I  then  returned  to 
the  town :  the  people  were  glad  of  my  detention,  and  earn- 
estly hoped  that  the  vessel  might  set  fast,  at  least  till  the 
next  spring-tides.  Many  came  together  in  the  evening,  to 
whom  I  again  preached  with  uncommon  liberty ;  and  God 
appeared  to  be  more  eminently  present  than  before.  This 


116  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

induced  me  to  believe  that  my  detention  was  of  the  Lord, 
and  that  I  had  not  before  fully  delivered  his  counsel.  The 
vessel  being  got  off  the  same  night  about  twelve  o'clock,  I 
recommended  them  to  God,  promised  them  a  preacher 
shortly,  and  setting  sail  arrived  in  Guernsey  in  about  twen- 
ty-one hours.  Glory  be  to  God  for  ever !  Amen." 

But  this  uninterrupted  tension  of  mind,  and  extraordinary 
labor  of  body,  began  to  make  serious  inroads  on  his  consti- 
tution, and  in  the  spring  of  this  year  reduced  Mr.  Clarke  to 
the  brink  of  the  grave.  A  complication  of  disorders  seemed 
to  have  fastened  on  him.  He  had  been  declining  for  some 
weeks,  till  at  length  he  sunk  in  utter  prostration.  We  have 
a  memorandum  of  this  illness  from  himself,  written  shortly 
after  to  a  friend  in  England :  "  Being  attacked,"  says  he, 
"from  so  many  quarters,  there  was  little  prospect  of  my 
lingering  long,  especially  as  I  had  been  slowly  wasting  for 
some  months.  The  people  were  greatly  alarmed,  and  pro- 
claimed a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  to  snatch  their  poor 
preacher  from  the  grave.  Their  sorrow  caused  me  to  feel : 
for  myself  I  could  neither  weep  nor  repine;  but  I  could 
hardly  forbear  the  former  on  their  account.  The  doctor  on 
his  second  visit  found  that  I  was  severely  attacked  by  jaun- 
dice, and  so  took  the  cure  of  that  first  in  hand ;  but  withal 
observed,  that  I  should  not  regain  my  health  properly  till  I 
resumed  my  former  habit  of  riding.  Through  much  mercy, 
[  am  now  greatly  mended ;  my  cough  is  almost  entirely  re- 
moved. I  am  yet  confined  to  my  room,  and  am  very  much 
enfeebled.  Indeed,  considered  abstractedly  from  my  spirit, 
I  am  little  else  than  a  quantity  of  bones  and  sinews,  wrapt 
up  in  none  of  the  best^colored  skin.  .  .  .  When  almost  at 
the  worst,  I  opened  my  Septuagint  on  the  ninety-first  Psalm, 
and  on  the  last  three  verses,  which  are  much  more  emphati- 
cal  than  the  English,  particularly  the  middle  clause  of  the 
fifteenth  verse,  "  /  am  with  him  in  affliction?  Blessed  be 
my  God  and  Saviour,  I  have  found  it  to  be  so." 

A  voyage  across  the  Channel,  and  a  visit  to  some  loved 
friends  in  England,  contributed  to  restore  his  wasted  strength. 


THE  MISSIONARY.  117 

Two  or  three  incidents  on  the  passage  back  are  worthy  of 
preservation,  as  unfolding  some  personal  characteristics. 
At  Southampton,  having  a  few  hours  to  spare  before  em- 
barking, he  preached  by  special  request  to  a  miscellaneous 
congregation,  who  heard  with  great  seriousness,  and  some 
of  whom  escorted  him  to  the  boat,  "  wishing  him  more  bless- 
edness than  their  tongues  could  express."  Among  the  passen- 
gers were  a  party  of  military  officers,  a  lieutenant  in  the 
navy,  and  "some  gentlemen,  so  called."  With  these  he 
had  several  altercations,  in  consequence  of  his  reproving 
them  for  blasphemous  language.  On  the  Sunday  their  pro- 
fanity seemed  purposely  augmented.  He  remonstrated,  but 
only  to  find  that  a  transient  cessation  was  followed  by  still 
more  objectionable  conduct.  The  preacher,  however,  was 
not  to  be  daunted.  Acting  on  the  maxim,  "JVe  cede  malis, 
sed  contra  audentior  ito"  he  went  among  them  again,  and 
insisted  on  their  putting  a  stop  to  such  wickedness.  They  de- 
manded by  what  authority  he  bore  himself  in  this  manner. 
He  replied,  "  I  am  a  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  author- 
ity by  which  I  denounce  your  wickedness  I  have  from  God." 
It  ought  to  be  mentioned,  in  justice  to  the  officers,  as  well 
as  to  the  credit  of  their  reprover,  that  they  acceded  to  his 
wishes. 

In  the  month  of  May  he  resumed  his  labors  in  the  islands, 
and  in  the  following  September  had  the  great  gratification 
of  receiving  a  visit  from  Mr.  Wesley,  who  was  accompanied 
by  Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Bradford.  In  Jersey  they  lodged  at 
Mr.  Brackenbury's,  and  in  Guernsey  at  Mon  Plaisir.  Im- 
mense crowds  heard  Mr.  Wesley  in  both  islands,  and  the 
memory  of  his  visit  has  become  a  tradition  among  the 
people. 

Obliged  at  length,  by  an  appointment  at  Bristol  on  a  par- 
ticular day,  to  leave  Guernsey,  whatever  wind  was  blowing, 
Mr.  Wesley  availed  himself  of  an  English  brig  touching  at 
the  island  on  her  way  from  France  to  Penzance.  Mr. 
Clarke  had  obtained  liberty  to  return  with  the  party  for  a 
few  days'  visit  to  England.  The  wind  blew  fairly  for  their 


118  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

course  to  Penzarice,  as  they  sailed  out  of  Guernsey  road, 
but  soon  slackened  till  it  died  away,  and  then,  rising  in  the 
opposite  quarter,  freshened  into  a  stiff  contrary  breeze ;  and 
much  time  was  spent  in  frequent  tacking  before  they  could 
well  clear  the  island.  I  will  now  recount  what  followed  in 
Mr.  Clarke's  own  words  :  "  Mr.  Wesley  was  sitting  read- 
ing in  the  cabin,  and,  hearing  the  noise  and  bustle  occasioned 
by  putting  the  vessel  about  to  stand  on  her  different  tacks, 
he  put  his  head  above,  and  inquired  what  was  the  matter  1 
Being  told  the  wind  was  become  contrary,  and  the  ship  was 
obliged  thus  to  tack,  he  said,  '  Then  let  us  go  to  prayer.' 
His  own  company  who  were  upon  deck  walked  down,  and 
at  his  request  Dr.  Coke,  Mr.  Bradford,  and  Mr.  Clarke 
went  to  prayer.  After  the  latter  had  ended,  Mr.  Wesley 
broke  out  into  a  fervent  supplication,  which  seemed  to  be 
more  the  offspring  of  strong  faith  than  of  mere  desire,  in 
words  remarkable  as  well  as  the  spirit,  feeling,  and  manner 
in  which  they  were  uttered.  Some  of  them  were  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect :  'Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  thou  hast 
thy  way  everywhere,  and  all  things  serve  the  purposes  of 
thy  will :  Thou  holdest  the  winds  in  thy  fists,  and  sittest 
upon  the  waterfloods,  and  reignest  king  forever.  Command 
these  winds  and  these  waves  that  they  obey  THEE,  and  take 
us  speedily  and  safely  to  the  hav^n  whither  we  would  be.' 
The  power  of  his  petition  was  felt  by  all.  He  rose  from 
his  knees,  made  no  kind  of  remark,  but  took  up  his  book 
and  continued  his  reading.  Mr.  Clarke  went  upon  deck, 
and  what  was  his  surprise  when  he  found  the  vessel  stand- 
ing on  her  right  course  with  a  steady  breeze,  which  slack- 
ened not  till,  carrying  them  at  the  rate  of  nine  or  ten  knots 
an  hour,  they  anchored  safely  near  St.  Michael's  Mount  in 
Penzance  Bay  !  On  the  sudden  and  favorable  change  of  the 
wind  Mr.  Wesley  made  no  remark :  so  fully  did  he  expect 
to  be  heard,  that  he  took  it  for  granted  he  was  heard.  Such 
answers  to  prayer  he  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving,  and  there- 
fore to  him  the  occurrence  was  not  strange.  Of  such  a  cir- 
cumstance how  many  of  those  who  did  not  enter  into  his 


THE   MISSIONARY.  119 

views  would  have  descanted  at  large,  had  it  happened  in 
favor  of  themselves  !  yet  all  the  notice  he  takes  of  this  sin- 
gular circumstance  is  contained  in  the  following  entry  in 
his  Journal :  '  In  the  morning,  Thursday,  (September  6th, 
1787,)  we  went  on  board  with  a  fair  moderate  wind.  But  we 
had  but  just  entered  the  ship  when  the  wind  died  away.  We 
cried  to  God  for  help ;  and  it  presently  sprung  up  exactly  fair, 
and  did  not  cease  till  it  brought  us  into  Penzance  Bay.' " 

On  landing,  Mr.  Clarke  volunteered  to  become  the  avant- 
courier  of  the  party,  and  riding  on,  preached  at  Redruth,  St. 
Austell,  and  Plymouth,  in  each  place  announcing  for  Mr. 
Wesley  on  the  following  evening,  till  at  Bath  Mr.  Wesley 
proceeded  to  Bristol,  and  Mr.  Clarke  to  Trowbridge. 

This  latter  place  had  long  had  an  attraction  for  him,  which 
had  now  become  too  strong  to  be  surmounted.  In  fact,  ever 
since  his  residence  in  that  circuit  he  had  cherished  a  deep 
attachment  to  a  lady  who  was  the  object  of  his  first  and 
everlasting  love.  She  was  the  eldest  of  several  sisters  who 
resided  at  Trowbridge  with  their  mother,  the  widow  of  Mr. 
John  Cooke,  formerly  a  substantial  clothier  of  that  town. 
These  ladies  had  been  frequently  hearers  of  Mr.  Wesley, 
Mr.  Brackenbury,  and  others  of  the  Methodist  preachers ; 
and  the  two  youngest  sisters  had  been  so  moved  by  the 
word  as  to  give  themselves  to  the  Lord,  and  to  his  people 
according  to  his  will.  Mrs.  Cooke  also  found  much  pleas- 
ure in  extending  to  Mr.  Wesley,  and  some  of  the  other 
ministers,  the  hospitalities  of  her  house  on  their  occasional 
visits.  Miss  Cooke,  who,  with  much  feminine  delicacy, 
was  distinguished,  nevertheless,  by  much  coolness  of  thought 
and  firmness  of  character,  did  not  at  first  accede  to  these 
Methodistic  tendencies  ;  but,  struck  with  the  beautiful  effects 
of  the  new  faith  in  the  life  of  her  sisters,  she  was  induced  to 
accompany  them  to  the  humble  preaching-room,  and  was 
herself  gradually  brought  under  the  converting  power  of 
the  Gospel.  Made  a  partaker  of  this  great  benefit,  she  con- 
secrated heart  and  life  to  her  Saviour's  cause,  and  became 
a  helper  of  the  faith  of  others,  in  inviting  them  to  the  house 


120  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

of  prayer,  and,  as  a  leader  of  a  class,  in  watching  over  the 
incipient  piety  of  some  who  had  obeyed  the  heavenly  call 
they  heard  there.  It  was  in  those  sweet  days  that  Adam 
Clarke  and  Mary  Cooke  learned  to  love  each  other  with  a 
pure  friendship,  which,  hallowed  by  all  the  sanctities  of  re- 
ligion, endured  with  their  years,  and  proved  itself  at  last 
more  strong  than  death. 

At  this  period,  however,  there  were  obstacles  to  their 
union  too  formidable  to  be  overcome.  Mrs.  Cooke,  while 
she  entertained  a  high  esteem  for  Mr.  Clarke  as  a  young 
man  of  learning,  piety,  and  promise  in  the  Christian  minis- 
try, was  yet  too  well  aware  of  the  rough  experiences  of  a 
Methodist  preacher's  life  not  to  feel  an  almost  invincible  re- 
luctance to  a  marriage  which  would,  to  all  human  appearance, 
identify  her  beloved  daughter's  life  with  penury  and  dis- 
comfort. Nor  did  Mr.  Wesley  himself,  who  had  been  led 
to  entertain  a  personal  affection  for  the  young  people,  (who, 
on  their  part,  looked  up  to  him  with  a  true  filial  reverence 
as  their  father  in  Christ,)  regard  the  question  of  their  union 
without  serious  misgiving.  At  first  coinciding  with  the 
wishes  of  Mrs.  Cooke,  he  gave  the  thing  his  entire  disap- 
proval, and  threatened  Mr.  Clarke  with  his  heaviest  dis- 
pleasure, "  if  he  married  Miss  Cooke  without  her  mothei-'s 
consent."  Subsequently  his  opinion^  was  somewhat  modified ; 
and,  in  reply  to  a  letter  written  by  Adam  Clarke  in  urging 
a  favorable  consideration  of  the  marriage,  he  tells  him, 
"  While  your  health  is  so  indifferent  you  have  no  business 
to  marry,  therefore  my  consent  at  present  would  do  you  no 
good.  Wait  patiently,  at  least  till  your  health  be  restored ; 
then  strange  revolutions  may  happen,  and  things  unexpected 
take  place  to  make  your  way  more  easy." 

In  October,  after  a  most  stormy  passage,  we  find  him 
again  at  work  in  the  islands.  In  the  stations  of  the  July 
Conference,  Robert  Carr  Brackenbury  and  Adam  Clarke 
stand  for  Jersey,  and  two  other  preachers  for  Guernsey 
— William  Stephens  for  the  English  congregations,  and  John 
De  Queteville  for  the  French  work,  fn  consequence  of 


THE   MISSIONARY.  121 

this  arrangement,  Mr.  Clarke  spent  the  greater  portion  of 
his  time  in  Jersey,  alternating  with  the  other  islands.  Mr. 
Brackenbury  continued  his  zealous  labors,  and  supplemented 
them  with  pecuniary  help  toward  the  support  of  the  rising 
cause ;  an  instance  of  which  I  find  in  a  letter  of  Mr.  Clarke, 
addressed  to  him  in  the  month  of  November  in  this  year,  in 
which  he  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  £80,  seventy  of  which 
were  for  public  purposes,  and  the  remaining  ten  for  himself. 
This  eminent  Christian  gentleman  and  eloquent  preacher  of 
the  word  of  God,  thus  labored  in  all  ways  to  promote  the  in- 
terests of  a  cause  to  which  he  had  consecrated  his  existence ; 
and  he  has  left  for  himself  an  imperishable  name  in  the 
annals  of  early  Methodism.  He  died  in  1818,  beloved  and 
regretted  by  the  thousands  to  whom  in  word  and  deed  he  had 
been  as  an  angel  of  God.  The  sentiment  of  the  Methodist 
Connection  at  large  on  the  bereavement  occasioned  by  his  de- 
cease is  well  expressed  in  the  Magazine  of  that  year :  "  As 
this  revered  and  lamented  friend  of  religion  and  virtue,  and 
eminent  servant  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  had  adorned  and 
preached  the  Gospel  among  us  with  great  approbation  and 
success  for  upward  of  forty  years,  we  exceedingly  regret 
not  being  allowed  to  give  a  sketch  of  his  exemplary  life  and 
great  usefulness,  which  we  are  prevented  from  doing  by 
his  own  particular  request,  '  that  nothing  should  be  said  or 
written  concerning  him.'  We  much  question,  however, 
whether  such  a  request,  dictated,  doubtless,  by  his  extreme 
and,  we  think,  mistaken  modesty,  ought  to  be  so  strictly 
observed  as  to  deprive  the  Church  and  the  world  forever 
hereafter  of  the  edification,  encouragement,  and  comfort  which 
even  an  imperfect  narrative  of  his  life,  and  delineation  of 
his  character,  would  certainly  have  afforded  them;  and 
much  more  such  a  biographical  account  of  him  as  we  know 
his  bereaved  and  mourning  partner  would  be  well  able  to 
lay  before  the  public." 

In  the  Rev.  John  De  Queteville,  Mr.  Clarke  had  a  zeal- 
ous and  effective  colleague.  He  was  a  native  of  Jersey,  and 
one  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  Methodist  ministrv  in  that 


122  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

island.  A  short  time  after  he  had  begun  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  French-speaking  population,  he  was  ordained  by 
Dr.  Coke,  whom  he  accompanied  to  Paris  for  the  purpose 
of  founding,  if  possible,  an  evangelical  mission  in  that  capi- 
tal. The  project  at  that  time  failed.  The  atheistic  frenzy 
of  the  Eevolution  had  not  sufficiently  subsided  in  the  public 
mind  to  induce  the  Parisians  so  much  as  to  listen  to  the 
word  of  God.  Dr.  Coke  purchased  one  of  the  confiscated 
churches,  and  opened  it  for  public  preaching.  They  found 
none  willing  to  hear,  but  many  to  revile  the  truth  which 
they  had  rejected  ;  and,  in  walking  the  streets,  the  preachers 
were  threatened  with  the  exaltation  of  the  lamp-post.  A 
rabble  surrounded  them,  not  once  nor  twice,  with  the  old 
terror-time  cry  of  A  la  Lanterne  !  Dr.  Coke  saw  that  the 
enterprise  was  as  yet  a  hopeless  one;  and,  by  the  kind 
offices  of  a  friend,  who  negotiated  for  him  with  the  public 
minister,  he  was  released  from  his  bargain  for  the  church, 
and  returned  to  England.  Mr.  De  Queteville  resumed  his 
labors  in  the  islands,  and  spent  a  long  and  honorable  life  in 
building  up  the  cause  of  God  among  them.  A  man  natur- 
ally of  impetuous  temper,  he  became,  by  the  sanctifying 
grace  of  God,  a  pattern  of  holiness  and  active  benevolence. 
I  knew  him  in  the  evening  of  his  days,  at  his  quiet  little 
parsonage  at  St.  Jacques',  waiting,  with  the  venerable  and 
amiable  partner  of  his  life,  to  be  called  into  the  presence  of 
the  Saviour,  "  all  praise,  all  meekness,  and  all  love." 

The  funeral  rites  at  the  grave  of  this  aged  saint  were  per- 
formed by  the  Rev.  John  Hawtrey.  This  distinguished 
servant  of  Christ  was  originally  an  officer  in  the  army,  and 
had  served  in  the  Peninsula  under  Lord  Wellington.  Con- 
verted to  God,  he  became  a  Methodist  minister,  and  labored 
many  years  in  connection  with  the  Conference,  honored  and 
admired  wherever  he  was  known,  as  a  man  of  noble  exterior, 
ft  Christian  gentleman,  and  an  eloquent  and  powerful 
expositor  of  the  Gospel.  He  was  subsequently  induced  to 
enter  the  ministry  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Mr.  Hawtrey 
held  the  incumbency  of  St.  James's  Church  in  Guernsey  for 


THE   MISSIONARY.  123 

some  years ;  but  removed,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  to  a 
parish  near  Windsor.  At  his  decease,  the  officers  of  the 
garrison  at  Windsor  testified  their  veneration  for  his  mem- 
ory by  solemnizing  his  funeral  with  military  honors.  Al- 
though separated  from  his  former  brethren  in  the  mere 
matter  of  church  ceremonies,  Mr.  Hawtrey,  as  I  knew  from 
personal  intercourse  with  him  in  Guernsey,  never  lost  his 
love  for  the  cause  of  Methodism.  His  affections  were  ever 
true  to  it,  and  his  devout  wishes  attended  its  progress.  As 
already  stated,  he  buried  good  old  Jean  De  Queteville ;  and 
I  shall  never  forget  how,  when  standing  by  his  side  at  the 
aged  laborer's  grave,  beneath  the  serene  and  cloudless 
heaven,  and  surrounded  by  the  grand  panorama  of  island- 
landscapes  and  unruffled  seas,  with  uplifted  eyes,  and  a  face 
illuminated  with  faith  and  hope,  he  gave  us  to  hear  again 
"  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  Write :  Blessed  are  the  dead 
who  die  in  the  Lord.  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit ;  for  they  rest 
from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 

Reverting  to  Mr.  Clarke's  days  in  the  islands,  we  find 
that,  as  health  returned,  he  resumed  all  his  former  pursuits, 
preaching  "  before  day  and  after  nightfall,"  and  diligently 
improving  the  intervening  hours  by  close  study,  or  personal 
intercourse  with  his  flock.  Among  these  were  some  who 
had  long  known  the  Lord,  and  whose  steadfast  piety  made 
a  sacred  impression  on  his  own  mind.  With  these  "  deeply 
experienced  Christians,"  as  he  describes  them  in  a  letter  to 
Miss  Cooke,  he  felt  it  a  privilege  to  be  permitted  to  have 
any  communion.  Compared  with  them,  he  speaks  of  him- 
self as  being  "  a  very  little  child."  The  most  remarkable 
were  two  females,  one  elderly,  the  other  young.  "The 
former,"  says  he,  "  seems  to  possess  all  the  solemnity  and 
majesty  of  Christianity ;  she  has  gone  and  is  going  through 
acute  bodily  sufferings ;  but  these  add  to  her  apparent  dig- 
nity :  her  eyes,  every  feature  of  her  face,  together  with  all 
her  words,  are  uncommonly  expressive  of  ETERNITY.  To 
her  I  put  myself  frequently  to  school  during  my  short 
abode  in  the  island,  and  could  not  avoid  learning  much,  un- 


124  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

less  I  had  been  invincibly  ignorant  or  diabolically  proud. 
The  latter  seems  possessed  of  all  that  cheerful  happiness 
and  pure  love  which  so  abundantly  characterize  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  Peace,  meekness,  and  joy,  judiciously  imrningled 
by  the  sagacious  economy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  constitute  a 
glorious  something,  affectingly  evident  in  all  her  deportment, 
which  I  find  myself  quite  at  a  loss  to  describe.*  Two 
such  I  know  not  that  I  have  before  found :  they  are  indeed 
the  rare  and  excellent  of  the  earth ;  the  one  '  not  grave  with 
sternness,'  nor  the  other  '  with  lightness  free.'  " 

Among  the  converts  whom  the  Lord  gave  him  as  the 
seals  of  his  ministry  was  a  soldier,  whose  case  merits  a 
record.  Writing  at  the  time  he  was  confined  by  illness, 
Mr.  Clarke  says :  "  Yesterday  a  soldier  belonging  to  the 
Train,  whom  the  Lord  gave,  together  with  his  wife,  some 
time  ago  to  my  feeble  labors,  came  to  see  me.  I  have  sel- 
dom seen  more  affection,  commixed  with  as  much  of  child- 
like simplicity  as  you  can  conceive,  evidenced  before.  He 
looked  in  my  face  pitifully,  and  saying,  'I  heard  you  were 
sick,'  sat  down  in  a  chair,  and  melted  into  tears.  Yes ;  and 
yet  he  is  a  soldier.  It  is  amazing.  This  man  was  a  very 
great  slave  to  drunkenness.  One  morning  last  summer, 
having  got  drunk  before  five  o'clock,  (!)  he  some  way  or 
other  strolled  out  to  Les  Terres,  and  heard  me  preach,  and 
was  deeply  affected.  '  What,  and  he  drunk  T  Yes.  After 
preaching  he  took  me  by  the  hand,  and  with  the  tears 
streaming  down  his  cheeks,  betwixt  drunkenness  and  dis- 
tress, he  was  only  capable  of  saying  a  very  few  words  :  '  O 
sir,  I  know  you  are  a  7T»an  possessed  by  the  Spirit  of  God.' 
He  went  home,  and  after  three  days'  agonies,  God  in  ten- 
der mercy  set  his  soul  at  liberty.  His  wife  also  set  out 
for  the  same  heaven  in  good  earnest,  and  shortly  found 
peace.  Both,  joined  the  Society,  and  have  walked  ever 
since  most  steadfastly  in  faith  and  good  works." 

*  Ho  refers  here,  I  believe,  to  Mademoiselle  Jcannie  Bisson.  A  fur- 
ther notice  of  this  remarkable  young  woman  may  be  found  in  Mr.  Wes- 
ley's Journal. 


THE  MISSIONARY.  125 

The  congregations  at  St.  Peter's  were  not  without  their 
fluctuations.  "It  is  strange  to  see  how  times  change.  Last 
winter  I  had  in  general  a  congregation  made  up  of  several 
of  the  most  reputable  persons  in  the  island ;  to  keep  me 
among  them  they  offered  to  provide  handsomely  for  me, 
which  kind  offer  I  again  and  again  rejected.  However,  they 
continued  to  hear,  believing  I  spoke  the  words  of  truth  and 
soberness,  and,  as  they  phrased  it,  '  in  the  best  manner  they 
had  ever  heard.'  '  Pity  it  was  that  I  could  not  be  permit- 
ted to  preach  in  the  church  at  least  every  Sunday.'  How- 
ever, this,  like  all  things  under  the  sun,  must  have  an  end. 
By  and  by  one  of  these  gentry  stayed  away,  another  attended 
less  frequently,  then  he  dropped  off;  such  and  such  did  not 
come,  and  therefore  I  lost  some  more ;  and  so  on,  till  hardly 
a  soul  of  them  came  either  on  Sabbaths  or  other  days.  I 
was  then  as  a  person  who  had  been  in  honor  and  continued 
not ;  and  my  ministry  was  at  last  confined  to  the  poor,  the 
best  friends  of  my  God.  These  cleaved  closely  to  me,  and 
praised  God  that  the  candlestick  was  yet  in  its  place.  With 
these  I  endeavored  to  keep  on  my  way,  and  the  dropping  in 
of  one  now  and  then  to  the  Society  held  up  my  hands. 
Persecutions  arose,  and  evil  reports  were  liberally  spread 
abroad ;  this  made  it  rather  dangerous  for  any  of  my  quon- 
dam friends  to  take  any  notice  of  me.  Then  I  was  obliged 
fully  to  walk  alone ;  but  through  the  strength  of  God  I  was 
enabled  to  weather  every  trying  circumstance.  Finally,  as 
things  cannot  be  long  at  a  stay  under  the  sun,  the  time  for 
a  revolution  must  again  take  place;  and  the  honor  that  I 
sought  not,  had,  and  lost,  would,  as  unsought  for,  again  re- 
turn. One — another — and  another  have  ventured  back, 
heard,  were  pleased  and  profited  once  more,  brought  others 
along  with  them,  till  at  last  I  have  all  back  again  with  an 
accession  of  several  new  ones ;  and  now  I  am  an  honorable 
man,  and  surely  a  great  many  good  things  would  not  be  too 
good  for  me  now,  would  I  accept  them.  Thus  you  see,  my 
dear  Mary,  there  is  but  as  one  day  between  a  poor  man  and 
a  rich.  It  is  well,  it  is  ineffably  well,  to  have  a  happiness 


126  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

that  is  not  affected  by  the  change  to  which  external  things 
are  incident.  What  a  blessing  to  be  able  to  sit  calm  on 
the  wheel  of  fortune,  and  to  prosper  in  the  midst  of  adver- 
sity !" 

Nor  did  the  mercy  of  God  withhold  from  him  this  in- 
wardly satisfying  beatitude.  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  it  has 
been  a  time  of  much  good  both  to  my  body  and  mind. 
Since  I  wrote  last,  the  Lord  has  opened  his  heaven  most 
benignly  in  my  soul ;  and,  with  that,  has  given  me  to  dis- 
cover him  as  one  uniform,  uninterrupted,  eternal  Good-will 
toward  all  his  creatures.  When  I  look  into  myself,  I  am 
astonished  that  he  condescends  to  pay  the  smallest  visit ; 
but  when  I  contemplate  him  in  the  above  attribute,  my 
astonishment  ceases,  though  I  cannot  forget  myself.  .  .  . 
Were  I  like  Mohammed's  feigned  angel,  having  'seventy 
thousand  heads,  each  actuated  by  as  many  tongues,  and  each 
uttering  seventy  thousand  voices,'  I  should  think  their  eter- 
nal utterances  of  his  praise  an  almost  no  tribute  to  a  God 
so  immeasurably  good.  And  yet  where  am  I  going  1  I 
have  but  one  tongue,  and  that  speaks  very  inexpressively. 
The  choicest  blessings  of  heaven  are  given  to  me ;  and  how 
seldom,  comparatively,  is  it  used  in  showing  forth  his  excel- 
lency, or  acknowledging  how  deeply  his  debtor  I  am  !  O 
my  God,  what  reason  have  I  to  bevashamed  and  confounded ! 
But  thou  wilt  have  mercy  !" 

The  spring  of  the  year  1788  became  a  memorable  epoch 
in  his  life.  The  opposition  to  his  marriage  with  Miss  Cooke 
had  so  far  given  way  at  Trowbridge,  partly  by  the  kind 
offices  of  Mr.  Wesley,  and  partly  by  the  strengthening  in- 
fluence of  Mr.  Clarke's  character  on  the  minds  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  that  measure,  that  his  way  was  considered  to  be  now 
sufficiently  plain  to  admit  of  the  fulfillment  of  the  vows  the 
two  parties  had  so  long  held  sacred.  Accordingly  Mr. 
Clarke  and  Miss  Cooke  were  married  in  Trowbridge  church, 
on  the  seventeenth  of  April.  Upon  this  event  I  cannot  do 
better  than  give  the  doctor's  own  reflection,  written  many 
years  after  :  "  Few  connections  of  this  kind  were  ever  more 


THE   MISSIONARY.  127 

opposed  ;  and  few,  if  any,  were  ever  more  happy.  The 
steadiness  of  the  parties  during  this  opposition  endeared 
them  to  each  other ;  they  believed  that  God  had  joined  them 
together,  and  no  storm  or  difficulty  in  life  was  able  to  put 
them  asunder.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Cooke,  many  years  before  her 
death,  saAv  that  this  marriage  was  one  of  the  most  happy  in 
her  family,  in  which  there  were  some  of  the  most  respecta- 
ble connections  ;  one  daughter  having  married  that  most 
excellent  man,  Joseph  Butterworth,  Esq.,  M.  P.,  a  pattern 
of  real  Christianity,  a  true  friend  of  the  Church  of  God,  and 
a  pillar  of  the  state  ;  and  another  having  married  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Thomas,  rector  of  Begelly,  in  South  Wales,  an  amiable 
and  truly  pious  man." 

Eleven  days  after  their  wedding,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clarke 
embarked  at  Southampton  for  the  islands.  The  steam- 
packet  had  not  then  appeared  on  the  seas,  and  a  voyage 
which  can  now  be  made  in  as  many  hours  took  them  on  this 
occasion  not  fewer  than  eight  days  to  accomplish.  The  re- 
ception which  awaited  Mrs.  Clarke  in  Guernsey  was  all 
that  herself  or  her  husband  could  desire.  The  worthy  family 
at  Mon  Plaisir  had  sent  over  a  trusty  domestic  to  attend  on 
Mrs.  Clarke,  and  on  their  arrival  welcomed  them  with  true 
family  hospitality.  From  Madame  De  Saumarez,  (the 
mother  of  Sir  James  De  Saumarez,  who  commanded  the 
"Ocean"  at  Trafalgar,)  Miss  Lempricre,  (whose  brother 
wrote  the  once  much-used  "  Classical  Dictionary,")  and 
other  ladies  of  Guernsey,  she  also  received  most  kind  atten- 
tions. As  to  Mr.  Clarke,  his  marriage  not  only  conduced 
to  his  own  personal  comfort,  but  greatly  increased  his  influ- 
ence among  the  people.  Henceforward  with  an  undivided 
mind  he  toiled  for  their  edification.  His  labors  were  still 
distributed  between  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  his  head-quarters 
being  in  the  former  island.  At  Les  Terres  he  had  contin- 
ued to  preach  in  English  twice  on  Sundays,  on  the  Wednes- 
day evening  and  Friday  morning.  The  place  was  so  crowd- 
ed as  to  render  the  erection  o'f  a  large  chapel,  if  possible, 
highly  expedient ;  and  already  measures  were  taken  for  such 


128  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

a  purpose,  with  a  decision  and  liberality  which  gave  every 
promise  of  success. 

These  operations  were  sustained,  during  the  following 
year,  by  a  new  appointment  from  the  Conference  of  1788 ; 
in  the  "  Minutes  "  of  which  the  stations  for  the  islands  are  : 
Jersey,  Messrs.  Brackenbury  and  Clarke. ;  and  Guernsey, 
Messrs.  Bredin  and  De  Queteville.  Mr.  Clarke  appears  to 
have  worked  alternately  in  the  islands,  a  quarter  in  each. 
The  winter  of  this  year  was  unusually  severe,  and  one  night 
in  the  month  of  January  he  had  a  narrow  escape  from  per- 
ishing by  the  cold.  In  going  to  preach  at  St.  Aubin,  the 
snow  lying  in  great  depth  inland,  he  was  obliged  to  follow 
the  sea-mark  along  the  bay.  Accompanied  by  a  young 
man,  the  same  who  stood  by  him  at  the  time  when  the  house 
was  beset,  (as  before  recounted,)  they  arrived  at  the  town 
wet  through,  and  benumbed  with  the  wind  and  sleet.  Mr. 
Clarke  preached,  though  exhausted,  and  then  set  out  with 
his  companion  to  retrace  their  way,  between  four  and  five 
miles,  to  St.  Helier's.  Meanwhile  a  heavy  snow  had  set  in, 
and  the  night  grew  worse  and  worse.  He  set  out,  having 
taken  no  kind  of  refreshment,  and  began  to  plod  his  way 
with  faint  and  unsteady  steps.  "  At  last  a  drowsiness, 
often  the  effect  of  intense  cold  when  the  principle  of  heat  is 
almost  entirely  abstracted,  fell  upon  him.  'Frank,'  said  he 
to  the  young  man,  'I  can  go  no  farther  till  I  get  a  little 
sleep ;  let  me  lie  down  a  few  minutes  on  one  of  these  snow- 
drifts, and  then  I  shall  get  strength  to  go  on.'  Frank  ex- 
postulated :  '  O  sir,  you  must  not ;  were  you  to  lie  down  but 
one  minute,  you  would  never  rise  more.  Do  not  fear ;  hold 
by  me,  I  will  drag  you  on,  and  we  shall  soon  get  to  St.  He- 
lier's.' He  answered,  '  Frank,  I  cannot  proceed  ;  I  am  only 
sleepy,  and  even  two  minutes  will  refresh  me ;'  and  he  at- 
tempted  to  throw  himself  upon  a  snow-drift,  which  appeared 
to  him  with  higher  charms  than  the  finest  bed  of  down. 
Francis  was  then  obliged  to  interpose  the  authority  of  his 
strength,  pulled  him  up,  and  continued  dragging  and  encour- 
aging him,  till,  with  great  labor  and  difficulty,  he  brought 


THE   MISSIONARY.  129 

him  to  St.  Heller's."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  but  for 
the  providential  company  of  Frank  Bisson.  he  would  have 
that  night  perished  on  the  snow ;  and  he  ever  after  enter- 
tained a  lively  sense  of  obligation  to  him,  of  which  he 
had  the  opportunity  of  giving  a  practical  evidence  more 
than  once.  , 

To  the  erection  of  the  chapel  in  Guernsey  many  difficul- 
ties had  risen,  and  all  the  more  formidable  from  the  deter- 
mined opposition  of  the  bailiff,  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
island.  Several  letters  on  the  matters  passed  between  our 
missionary  and  Mr.  Wesley,  whose  counsels,  iuculcative  of 
gentleness  in  words  and  conduct,  perseverance,  and  fervent 
prayer,  were  followed  by  Mr.  Clarke  and  his  friends  with 
entire  success.  The  disinclination  of  the  bailiff  suddenly 
gave  way.  Mr.  Wesley  himself  was  surprised  at  the  genial 
change  of  mind  in  this  gentleman ;  and  he  says,  "  I  really 
think  the  temper  and  behavior  of  the  bailiff  are  little  less 
than  miraculous."  In  fact,  he  sold  them  a  piece  of  ground 
from  his  own  property,  promised  to  subscribe  fifty  pounds 
himself,  before  the  building  was  begun  added  ten  pounds 
more,  and  engaged  a  pew  for  himself  and  family.  Among 
the  other  subscribers  we  find  the  name  of  Mr.  Walker  for 
a  hundred  pounds,  and  that  of  Mr.  De  Jersey  for  a  hundred. 
The  latter  tried  friend  lent  them  also  three  hundred,  with 
"  Pay  it  as  you  can  ;  or.  if  I  never  receive  a  farthing  of  it, 
I  shall  be  well  contented."  He  was  about  to  build  a  house 
f<  >r  his  daughter  and  son-in-law,  Mr.  De  Queteville ;  but  de- 
clared that  not  a  stone  of  it  should  be  laid  till  the  chapel 
was  finished.  We  set  this  down  because  such  an  example 
of  hearty  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Jesus  merits  a  record. 
Servant  of  God,  well  done  ! 

Some  difficulty  was  encountered  about  the  legal  settle- 
ment of  the  chapel  according  to  what  is  called  "  the  Confer- 
ence plan ;"  the  jurisdiction  of  the  English  Court  of  Chan- 
cery, in  which  the  Wesleyan  chapels  are  enrolled,  not  ex- 
tending to  the  Norman  Isles.  But  even  this  obstacle  was 

overcome,  and  Mr.  Clarke  had  the-satisfaction  of  being  able 

0 


130  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

to  write :  "  We  have  a  large  chapel  built  here.  It  is  as 
tonishing  to  think  how  this  handful  of  people  have  done  it; 
but  God  was  with  us.  What  is  nearly  as  wonderful  is 
that,  notwithstanding  the  English  laws  are  not  admitted 
here,  yet  I  have  got  it  settled  on  the  Conference  plan  by  a 
public  Act  of  thfc  Royal  Court.  I  am  about,  therefore,  to 
leave  this  people  on  a  good  footing,  prospering  in  the  ways 
of  God,  and  well  established  in  spiritual  and  temporal 
matters." 

In  Jersey,  too,  a  similar  movement  took  place  for  the 
erection  of  a  chapel  at  St.  Helier's ;  and,  along  with  these 
efforts  to  promote  the  material  consolidation  of  the  good 
cause,  the  preachers  had  the  unspeakable  joy  of  witnessing 
the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  power  in  the  upbuilding  and 
beautifying  of  the  spiritual  temple  of  the  Church.  I  will 
conclude  these  annals  of  Mr.  Clarke's  missionary  life,  by 
transcribing  a  manuscript  letter,  which  gives  some  remark- 
able details  on  this  subject.  It  is  addressed  to  Mr.  Wes- 
ley, and  was  probably  the  last  he  wrote  to  "him  from  the 
islands.  The  date  is  "Jersey,  July  15,  1789." 

MY  REVEREND  FATHER  IN  CHRIST, — In  my  last  I  gave  you 
a  short  account  of  the  prosperity  of  the  work  of  God  among 
us,  and  the  prospect  we  had  of  an  increase.  Since  that  time 
the  Lord  has  indeed  wrought  wonderfully.  You  perhaps 
remember  the  account  I  gave  you  of  the  select  prayer-meet- 
ing I  had  just  then  established  for  those  only  who  had  either 
attained,  or  were  groaning  after,  full  redemption.  I  thought 
that,  as  we  were  all  with  one  accord  in  the  same  place,  we 
had  reason  to  expect  a  glorious  descent  of  the  purifying 
flame.  It  was  even  so.  Soon  five  or  six  were  able  to  testify 
that  God  had  cleansed  their  souls  from  all  sin.  This  coming 
abroad,  for  it  could  not  be  long  hid,  (the  change  being  so 
palpable  in  those  who  professed  it,)  several  others  were 
stirred  up  to  seek  the  same  blessing,  and  many  were  liter- 
ally provoked  to  jealousy,  among  whom  one  of  the  principal 
was  Mr,  De  Queteville.  He  questioned  me  at  large  con- 


THE     MISSIONARY.  131 

earning  our  little  meeting,  and  the  good  done.  I  satisfied 
him  in  every  particular ;  and,  being  much  affected,  he  said, 
*  'Tis  a  lamentable  thing  that  those  who  began  to  seek  God 
since  I  did  should  have  left  me  so  far  behind.  Through  the 
grace  of  Christ,  I  will  begin  to  seek  the  same  blessing  more 
earnestly,  and  never  rest  till  I  overtake  and  outstrip  them, 
if  possible.'  For  two  or  three  days  he  wrestled  with  God 
almost  incessantly.  On  the  30th  of  June  he  came  into  my 
room  with  great  apparent  depression  of  spirit,  with  the 
earnest  inquiry,  '  How  shall  I  receive  the  blessing,  and  what 
are  its  evidences?'  I  gave  him  all  the  directions  I  could, 
exhorted  him  to  look  for  it  in  the  present  moment,  and  as- 
sured him  of  his  nearness  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  He  re- 
turned to  his  room,  and  after  a  few  minutes,  spent  in  wrest- 
ling faith,  his  soul  was  fully  and  gloriously  delivered.  He 
set  off  for  the  country,  and  like  a  flame  of  fire  went  over  all 
the  societies  in  the  island,  carrying  the  glorious  news  wher- 
ever he  went.  God  accompanied  him  by  the  mightily  dem- 
onstrative power  of  his  Spirit,  and  numbers  were  stirred  up 
to  seek,  and  several  soon  entered  into,  the  promised  rest.  I 
now  appointed  a  love-feast  on  the  5th  inst.  Such  a  heaven 
opened  on  earth  my  soul  never  felt  before.  Several  were 
filled  with  pure  love ;  and  some  then  and  since  have,  to- 
gether with  a  clean  heart,  found  the  removal  of  inveterate 
bodily  disorders  under  which  they  had  labored  for  a  long 
time.  This  is  an  absolute  fact,  of  which  I  have  had  every 
proof  which  rationality  can  demand.  One  thing  was  re- 
markable— there  was  no  false  fire;  no,  not  a  spark  that  I 
would  not  wish  to  have  lighted  up  in  my  own  soul  to  all 
eternity ;  and,  though  God  wrought  both  in  bodies  and  souls, 
yet  everything  was  under  the  regulation  of  his  own  Spirit, 
mid  fully  proclaimed  his  operation  alone.  To  speak  within 
compass,  there  are  not  less  than  fifty  or  sixty  souls  who,  in 
the  space  of  less  than  a  fortnight,  have  entered  into  the  good 
land,  and  many  of  them  established,  strengthened,  and  settled 
in  it ;  and  still  the  blessed  work  goes  daily  on. 

"  This  speedy  work  has  given  a  severe  blow  to  the  squalid 


132  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

doctrine  of  sanctification  through  suffering,  which  was  before 
received  by  many,  to  the  great  prejudice  of  their  souls.- 
Several  of  your  particular  acquaintances,  my  dear  sir,  have 
had  a  large  share  in  this  blessing ;  and,  among  others,  Mrs. 
Guilliaume,  Madam  De  Saumarez,  and  Miss  Lempriere. 
The  former  is  one  of  the  greatest  monuments  of  God's  power 
to  sanctify  that  I  have  seen.  The  latter  are  blessedly 
brought  out  of  [their  former]  dreary  state.  Several,  who 
had  long  been  adepts  in  making  Procrustes'  bed,  are  now 
redeemed  from  every  particle  of  sour  godliness." 

The  divine  blessing  on  the  labors  of  Brackenbury,  Clarke, 
and  their  colleagues  in  the  islands,  was  seen  in  the  numerical 
and  moral  strength  which  the  cause  has  thus  already  attained. 
Mr.  Clarke  left  two  hundred  and  forty-eight  members  in 
Jersey,  and  one  hundred  and  five  in  Guernsey.  At  the 
present  time  chapels  of  the  French  and  English  Methodists 
are  found  in  all  parts  of  the  islands.  There  are  more  than 
three  thousand  members  in  Society  ;  who,  besides  sustaining 
thirteen  ministers,  English  and  French,  in  their  own  service, 
contribute  some  seven  hundred  pounds  per  annum  to  the 
cause  of  foreign  missions. 


THE   CIRCUIT   MINISTER.  133 


CHAPTER 

THE    CIRCUIT    MINTSTEK. 

A  NEW  and  noble  field  of  labor  was  now  opening  to  Mr. 
Clarke.  Henceforward  his  ministry  will  be  exercised  in 
large  and  thickly  peopled  cities,  and  thousands  be  enriched 
from  those  stores  of  saving  truth  which  had  been  incessantly 
accumulating  in  his  soul.  The  character  of  the  times  was 
assuming  an  unprecedented  grandeur.  Europe  was  begin- 
ning to  heave  with  the  throes  of  that  political  earthquake  in 
which  the  feudalism  of  the  past  was  doomed  to  give  way  be- 
fore another  development  of  society.  The  trumpets  of 
Providence  were  sounding  the  advent  of  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  Revolution  and  change  had  become 
the  order  of  the  day ;  and,  in  the  desired  abolition  of  many 
unquestionable  corruptions,  there  was  a  danger  that  the 
sacred  institutes  of  legitimate  authority  and  rule,  the  safe- 
guards of  the  true  rights  of  mankind,  might  also  be  swept 
away  by  the  swelling  tides.  The  demon  of  infidelity  had 
come  forth  into  this  storm,  and  was  pervading  the  popular 
mind  with  imaginations  of  rapine  and  murder.  Nor  was 
England  without  her  peril  of  being  drawn  into  this  vortex 
of  ruin.  Among  the  masses  of  the  people  there  were  too 
many  who,  without  consideration,  were  disposed  to  feel  and 
act  with  the  atheists  and  democrats  of  bewildered  France. 
In  those  days,  then,  the  voice  of  the  evangelist  was  more 
than  ever  needed  ;  and  the  Gospel  of  order  and  peace,  which 
from  his  lips  went  straight  to  the  hearts  of  the  people,  con- 
tributed more  to  the  security  of  the  altar  and  the  throne  than 
the  worldly  wisdom  of  Parliaments,  or  the  whetted  sword 
of  the  secular  law.  It  was  in  the  opening  time  of  this  na- 
tional ordeal  that  Mr.  Clarke  began  to  appear  as  a  promin- 


134:  LIFE   OF   ADAM  CLAKKE. 

ent  member  of  an  order  of  men  whose  self-denying  endeavors 
have  not  only  saved  multitudes  of  souls  for  all  eternity,  but 
contributed  also,  in  a  most  honorable  degree,  to  the  temporal 
safety  and  well-being  of  their  country. 

Our  preacher  quitted  the  Norman  Isles  in  July,  1789,  and 
proceeded  to  the  Conference  at  Leeds,  leaving  Mrs.  Clarke 
and  their  infant  at  Trowbridge  on  his  way.  The  trustees 
of  the  Leeds  Circuit  had  already  petitioned  Mr.  Wesley  that 
Mr.  Clarke  should  be  appointed  there  the  ensuing  year — a 
measure  that  was  frustrated  by  a  circumstance  which  seems 
sufficiently  ludicrous.  Mr.  Clarke  preached  twice  at  Leeds 
on  the  Conference  Sunday.  In  the  morning  prayer  he  casu- 
ally omitted  to  pray  for  the  king.  Reminded  of  the  failure, 
he  endeavored  to  repair  it  in  the  evening,  when,  among  other 
supplications  for  His  Majesty,  he  devoutly  implored  that 
God  would  bless  him  with  his  pardoning  and  sanctifying 
grace.  Some  of  the  "  chief  women "  of  the  congregation 
took  umbrage  at  this  style  of  petition,  as  implying  "that  the 
king  was  a  sinner !"  So  deeply  was  their  sense  of  loyalty 
wounded,  that  a  remonstrance  against  the  appointment  was 
signed  by  these  ladies,  and  sent  into  the  Conference,  with 
the  understanding  that  "  the  dangerously  democratic  princi- 
ples" implied  in  such  a  prayer  sufficiently  unfitted  the  person 
who  could  utter  it  for  ministering  among  the  people  of  Leeds. 
Mr.  Wesley,  who  wished  to  keep  peace  so  far  as  possible, 
and  who  had  a  sincere  respect  for  the  simple-hearted,  stead- 
fast piety  of  the  petitioners,  acceded  to  the  request,  and 
appointed  Mr.  Clarke  to  Halifax.  The  leading  men  of  the 
society,  however,  were  not  so  well  satisfied  with  this  decision, 
and  an  overture  was  made  to  reverse  it.  But  Mr.  Clarke 
was  unprepared  to  listen  to  anything  of  the  kind,  and  hastily 
pronounced  the  resolve  never  to  enter  Leeds  in  the  way  of  an 
appointment  as  a  traveling  preacher  ;  because  he  would  not 
recognize  any  church,  nor  minister  in  any,  in  which  the 
supreme  rule  was  not  with  his  Divine  Master ! 

Just  at  that  time  he  seerns  to  have  been  incapable  of  pro- 
pitiating the  good  graces  of  the  Methodist  ladies  of  York- 


THE  CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  135 

shire ;  for,  at  Halifax,  when  his  appointment  there  was  noti- 
fied, a  remonstrance  from  the  female  members  was  sent 
forthwith,  objecting  to  him,  as  being  "  dull,  though  learned." 
So  once  more  he  was  displaced.  The  same  process  followed 
as  at  Leeds.  The  men  at  Halifax  wished  him  to  come,  and 
wrote  a  letter  of  explanation  to  that  effect,  which  drew  forth 
a  reply  from  Mr.  Clarke,  reiterating  the  sentiment  he  had 
already  pronounced  :  "  the  same  principle  must  guide  his 
movements  on  this  as  on  the  former  occasion ;  his  call,  he 
conceived,  not  extending  to  any  place  in  which  women  were 
the  governors,  because  he  was  certain  that  Christ  had  not 
truly  the  rule  where  the  women  held  the  reins !"  These 
little  annoyances  were,  however,  controlled  for  the  best ; 
and  at  the  close  of  the  Conference  he  held  a  confirmed  ap- 
pointment to  the  city  of  Bristol. 

This  sphere  of  duty  was  one  of  the  most  important  that 
could  have  been  assigned  him,  next  to  London.  The  circuit 
held  the  pre-eminence  in  Methodism,  and  numbered,  even 
at  that  time,  the  city  and  outlying  places  included,  more 
than  two  thousand  members.  The  necessities  of  the  circuit 
would  admit  of  but  a  very  short  vacation,  and  with  the  opening 
of  the  year  Mr.  Clarke  was  at  his  post.  As  in  imagination 
we  see  him  enter  the  pulpit  at  Broadmead,  on  the  first  Sab- 
bath morning,  amid  the  silence,  the  prayer,  and  devout  ex- 
pectations of  the  crowded  congregation,  we  insensibly  call 
to  mind  the  time  when  he  first  visited  Bristol.  The  hungry, 
ill-clad  youth,  who  had  eaten  his  frugal  supper  of  bread  and 
water  in  the  kitchen  of  the  inn  just  opposite,  and  whose  ap- 
parition had  so  disturbed  the  powers  who  reigned  at  Kings- 
wood,  now  reappears,  a  man  in  all  the  majesty  of  intellect, 
a  husband  and  father,  alive  to  the  most  sacred  affections  of 
our  nature,  and  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  with  the  full  seal 
of  spiritual  power,  in  the  evidences  with  which  heaven  had 
attested  his  vocation,  as  well  as  the  solemn  concurrence  and 
approbation  of  him  who  held  the  office  of  scriptural  bishop 
in  that  communion  of  the  Church.  Every  young  man  should 
see  in  this  example  a  type  and  pledge  of  the  success  which 


13(5  LIFE    OK   ADAM    CLARKE. 

awaits  him  in  whatever  condition  of  lite  Divine  Providence 
may  have  cast  his  lot,  if,  with  the  subject  of  our  memoir, 
he  will  live  and  act  in  the  spirit  of  the  prayer,  "  Let  integ- 
rity and  uprightness  preserve  me ;  for  I  wait  on  Thee." 

But  the  duties  of  the  Bristol  Circuit  were  so  extensive 
and  heavy  as  to  tax  Mr.  Clarke's  physical  powers  to  the 
utmost.  Unhappily,  he  entered  on  this  new  stage  with  en- 
feebled and  shattered  health.  His  life  in  the  Norman  Isles 
had  been  too  sedentary  for  a  constitution  habituated  to  vio- 
lent out-door  exercise.  To  almost  unremitted  study  were 
added  the  wasting  effects  of  a  cough  which  had  harassed  him 
for  years,  ever  since  sleeping  in  a  damp  bed  in  the  Trowbridge 
Circuit.  This  complaint  had  now  become  so  heavy  as  to 
threaten  his  life.  Mr.  Wesley,  who  came,  to  Bristol  in  an 
early  part  of  the  year,  was  struck  with  the  change  in  his 
appearance,  and  intimated,  in  one  of  his  addresses  to  the 
Society,  his  apprehensions  that  they  Avould  not  long  have 
the  benefit  of  their  minister's  services.  Some  hope  was 
entertained  that  the  waters  of  the  Hotwells,  which  at  that 
time  were  in  high  medical  repute,  would  tend  to  restore 
him ;  but  this  benefit  was  seriously  interfered  with  by  the 
severity  of  his  labors,  and  the  disadvantage  of  living  in  the 
rooms  appropriated  to  the  preachers  over  the  chapel,  which, 
pervaded  with  the  effluvium  from  the  crowded  congregations, 
were  altogether  unwholesome  as  a  place  of  residence.  Not- 
withstanding those  drawbacks,  he  nevertheless  struggled  on, 
though  life  with  him  was  all  that  year  little  better  than  a 
protracted  martyrdom.  He  had  two  colleagues,  Messrs. 
Wadsworth  and  Hodgson ;  and  to  these  three  men  were 
allotted  the  working  of  a  circuit  comprising  a  large  number 
of  congregations,  and  the  pastoral  care  of  more  than  two 
thousand  members.  The  quarterly  visitation  of  the  classes, 
carried  on  simultaneously  with  the  pulpit  and  other  duties 
of  the  circuit,  drained  their  strength  to  the  uttermost.  In 
a  note  to  his  friend  Brackenbury,  in  January,  Mr.  Clarke 
says :  "  For  a  month  I  have  been  employed  in  visiting  the 
••lasses.  This  close  work  has  proved  more  than  I  could  well 


THE   CIRCUIT   MINISTER.  137 

sustain.  I  need  not  say,  that  preaching  three  or  four  times 
a  day,*  and  giving  tickets  to  two  or  three  hundred  people, 
regulating  the  concerns  of  the  Society,  etc.,  is  more  than 
any  common  strength  is  able  to  perform.  From  what  I 
now  feel,  and  the  increase  of  the  work,  I  have  every  reason 
to  believe  that  I  shall  either  be  in  eternity  before  Confer- 
ence, or  be  fully  invalided.  In  visiting  the  classes  I  have 
diligently  endeavored  to  root  out  all  apparent  offenses  and 
offenders ;  and,  as  the  foundation  is  clearer  than  it  has  been 
for  some  time,  I  expect  a  more  durable  building.  I  see  such 
fruit  of  my  labor  as  causes  me  almost  to  rejoice  in  the  mar- 
tyred body  which  the  most  merciful  God  has  in  his  conde- 
scension made  an  honored  instrument  in  helping  forward  so 
good  a  work." 

So,  in  the  June  quarter :  "  I  am  now  so  exceedingly  busied, 
that  I  have  not  time  to  take  my  necessary  food.  We  are 
visiting  the  classes,  in  which  I  am  employed  from  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning  to  five  in  the  evening :"  all  this,  followed 
by  preaching  either  in  the  city  or  the  country.  Mr.  Wesley, 
on  a  visit  to  Bristol,  gave  him  all  the  help  he  could.  Thus 
in  his  Journal  at  this  time  we  read  the  entry ;  "  On  Monday, 
and  the  three  following  days,  I  visited  the  classes  at  Bris- 
tol." Mr.  Clarke  mentions  that  he  took  one  class,  and  Mr. 
Wesley  another,  alternately ;  thus  proceeding  during  four 
successive  days.  As  to  his  circuit-work,  we  take  the  fol- 
lowing specimens  of  its  fidelity  and  heartiness  :  "  I  set  out 
for  Westbury,  walked  thither,  and  preached  with  great  lib- 
erty to  a  large,  attentive  congregation.  At  five  I  preached 
at  the  Room,  and  the  Lord  gave  me  an  hour's  work  of  very 
convincing  speech.  I  felt  in  my  soul  that  much  good  was 
done.  I  may  not  know  to  what  extent ;  but  this  the  Lord 
has  favored  me  with,  that  a  notorious  sinner  was  thoroughly 
convinced,  and  has  since  been  earnestly  wrestling  with  God, 
that  he  may  espape  eternal  fire.  Glory  be  to  thee,  O  God ! 

*  He  must  mean  Sundays,  when,  with  heavy  pulpit  duty,  the  neces- 
sity of  meeting  several  classes  is  most  painfully  oppressive.  Superin- 
tendents should  avoid  it,  if  any  other  arrangements  ire  possible. 


138  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

I  then  met  the  Society  and  spoke  all  my  mind;  the  lazy 
rich  I  did  not  spare.  On  Monday  morning  I  had  at  five 
o'clock  such  a  congregation  as  I  think  I  never  saw  in  Bris- 
tol ;  several  of  the  great  folks,  too,  were  hearing  for  life. 
These  things  are  tokens  for  good.  Our  friends  tell  me  there 
is  a  great  stir  all  round  Bristol.  In  such  a  large  place  it 
cannot  be  so  palpable  as  in  a  smaller ;  but,  thank  God,  this 
is  no  matter.  Glory,  glory  to  God  and  to  the  Lamb !" 
The  next  Sunday  :  "  I  preached  at  Donkerton,  to  a  very  sim- 
ple, pleasing  people ;  and  God  was  in  the  midst :  at  noon 
and  night,  in  Bath.  He  gave  me  liberty,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  much  good  was  done.  I  had  one  soul  for  my  hire  at 
the  last  preaching :  such  a  power  from  on  high  rested  on  all 
as  I  have  seldom  seen.  God  seemed  to  have  given  the  people 
into  my  hand." 

"  Yesterday  rode  from  Bath  to  Bristol,  and  back  again 
this  morning.  Met  five  classes,  and  preached  once :  have 
yet  to  meet  six  classes,  and  preach  twice.  To-morrow 
morning  return  to  Bristol,  as  we  begin  to  meet  classes  at 
six  in  the  morning,  and  continue  with  short  intervals  the 
whole  of  the  day  to  the  end  of  the  week.  I  feel  willing, 
but  am  almost  knocked  up. 

"  Went  last  Sunday  to  Kingswood,  preached  twice,  gave 
an  exhortation,  and  met  nine  classes.  Thence  to  Guinea- 
street,  where  preached,  met  Society,  and  gave  tickets  to  one 
class."  Again :  "  At  seven,  A.  M.  met  the  Bridge-street 
Society ;  preached  at  Guinea-street,  thence  to  Westbury, 
preached  at  two  o'clock,  and  gave  tickets ;  then  back  to 
Bristol,  fatigued  and  wet;  preached  at  five,  and  met  the 
Society.  Next  morning  at  five  preached  again ;  and  then 
rode  to  the  Marsh,  where,  scarcely  able  to  speak,  I  preached 
again,  and  gave  tickets.  From  Marsh  the  next  morning 
back  to  Pensford ;  from  thence  to  Glutton,  through  a  severe 
tempest,  wet  to  the  skin.  Thursday  to  Kingswood ;  preached 
at  five,  and  returned  home  to  assist  Mr.  Hodgson  to  hold  a 
watchnight,  but  was  scarcely  able  to  move  for  more  than 
an  hour  after  I  got  home.  At  length  I  went  to  lend  some 


THE   CIRCUIT   MINISTER.  139 

aid,  and  brother  Hodgson  and  I  held  on  till  about  eleven 

o'clock,  when  we  made  an  apology  for  retiring Just 

as  I  was  passing  to  my  bedroom,  I  thought  I  would  go  to 
the  lobby-window,  and  take  a  last  view  of  them,  at  which 
moment  one  of  the  singers  was  giving  out  a  hymn.  I 
thought, '  The  meeting  will  close  for  lack  of  persons  to  pray. 
I  will  go  down."  Mr.  Hodgson  at  that  moment  joined  me, 
and  advised  me  not.  I  hesitated  a  moment ;  but,  finding  my 
soul  drawn  out  in  pity  to  the  multitudes,  I  said,  '  I  will  go 
down  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Mr.  Hodgson  would  not  be 
left  behind.  1  had  before  felt  much  of  the  power  of  God,  but 
now  it  was  doubled.  We  continued  singing,  praying,  and 
exhorting  until  half-past  twelve,  during  which  time  strong 
prayers,  cries,  and  tears  bore  testimony  to  the  present 
power  of  God.  How  excellent  the  Lord  is  in  working! 
How  wondrous  are  his  ways  of  mercy !  '  I  am  thine, 
save  me.'  I  am  willing  to  breathe  my  last  in  thy  work." 

In  his  personal  intercourse  with  the  Methodist  people  of 
Bristol,  Mr.  Clarke  now  formed  friendships  which  were  life- 
long ;  and  those  friendships  Avere  cherished  for  the  poor  of 
Christ's  flock,  as  well  as  the  rich.  Among  the  former  class 
was  an  eminent  Christian  named  Summerhill ;  and  we  men- 
tion her  case  on  account  of  its  extraordinary  character. 
Dame  Summerhill  was  at  that  time  a  hundred  and  four 
years  old.  Relating  her  experience  one  day  to  Mr.  Clarke, 
she  said  that  Mr.  Wesley  was  her  father  in  the  Gospel. 
"  When  he  first  came  to  Bristol,  I  went  to  hear  him  preach; 
and,  having  heard  him,  I  said, '  This  is  the  truth.'  I  inquired 
of  those  around,  who  and  what  he  was.  I  was  told  that  he 
was  a  man  who  went  about  everywhere  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel. I  further  inquired,  '  Is  he  to  preach  here  again  V  The 
reply  was,  '  Not  at  present.'  '  Where  is  he  going  to  next  ]' 
I  asked.  '  To  Plymouth,'  was  the  answer.  '  And  will  he 
preach  there  V  '  Yes.'  '  Then  I  will  go  and  hear  him.  What 
is  the  distance1?'  'One  hundred  and  twenty -five  miles.'  I 
went,  walked  it,  heard  him,  and  walked  back  again !" 

When  a  hundred  and  six  years  old  she  was  accustomed 


140  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLAKKE. 

to  read  the  Church  prayers  daily,  "as  a  substitute  for  the 
public  means  of  grace,"  which  she  was  no  longer  able  to 
attend  ;  reading  the  small  print  both  of  Bible  and  Prayer- 
Book  without  spectacles. 

In  Bristol  Mr.  Clarke  sat  for  his  portrait,  at  the  request 
of  several  of  his  friends.  The  painter  was  Mr.  Holloway, 
who  distinguished  himself  some  years  after  by  his  engrav- 
ings of  the  cartoons  of  Raffaelle.  From  several  preceding 
failures,  Mr.  Clarke  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  his  face 
was  not  an  auspicious  one  for  the  pencil ;  and  he  complied 
only  on  two  conditions  :  "  First,  that  you  do  not  make  me 
appear  better  than  I  am ;  for  that  will  reflect  on  my  Maker, 
as  though  he  had  not  made  me  good  enough :  and,  secondly, 
that  you  do  not  make  me  appear  worse  than  I  am ;  for  that 
will  be  to  burlesque  me."  The  request  of  the  artist  was 
supported  by  Mr.  Wesley,  who  wanted  to  have  an  engrav- 
ing of  it  for  the  Magazine.  The  likeness  is  correct  enough, 
though  the  engraving  is  but  indifferent.  Underneath,  after 
the  manner  of  the  old  portraits  in  the  Magazine,  is  the  in- 
scription, "Mr.  Adam  Clarke,  ^Etatis  27."  Mr.  Clarke's 
father,  whom  he  now  had  the  pleasure  of  once  more  seeing 
in  Bristol,  objected  to  the  age,  as  being  two  years  too  young. 
But  upon  this  point,  as  we  have  already  noticed,  neither 
father,  mother,  nor  son  was  ever  quite  free  from  uncertainty. 

Though  the  incessant  demand  on  his  time  by  public  and 
pastoral  engagements  left  him  but  few  hours  for  books,  the 
unslaked  and  ever-growing  thirst  of  his  soul  for  knowledge 
made  Mr.  Clarke  still  a  diligent  student  to  the  extent  of  his 
opportunities.  He  read  hard,  and  thought  deeply  ;  and  the 
advantages  he  found  in  access  to  large  collections  of  books  in 
the  city  were  diligently  improved.  His  scanty  means,  also, 
were  taxed  to  the  utmost  in  acquisitions  to  his  own  library, 
which  even  now  began  to  be  considerable,  both  as  to  the  num- 
ber and  the  value  of  the  works  of  which  it  was  composed. 

This  year  in  Bristol,  which  was  passed  in  one  continued 
series  of  exertions,  was  crowned  by  the  assembly  of  the 
Conference  there ;  a  circumstance  which  always  gives  ad- 


THE   CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  141 

ditional  anxiety  to  the  preachers  stationed  on  the  spot,  from 
the  task  it  devolves  on  them  of  furnishing  so  large  a  num- 
ber of  strangers  with  domestic  accommodation.  This  Con- 
ference (of  1790)  was  distinguished  as  being  the  last  over 
which  Mr.  Wesley  presided  in  person.  It  was  the  forty- 
seventh  of  its  annual  assemblies  in  which  this  truly  apos- 
tolic bishop  had  gathered  around  him  his  sons  and  fellow- 
laborers  in  the  Gospel,  for  counsel  and  prayer.  But  his 
long  and  luminous  career  was  now  about  to  end.  It  was 
the  sunset  of  his  day,  and  the  evening  was  without  a  cloud. 
The  preachers  had  a  presentiment  that  they  were  to  see  his 
face  no  more.  His  latest  counsels  sank  into  their  hearts,  and 
the  last  accents  of  his  voice  became  a  prophecy  to  them  of 
benediction  and  peace.* 

On  reviewing  the  state  of  the  Connection,  it  was  found 
that  in  Great  Britain  and  America  the  numbers  in  society 
amounted  to  120,000;  thus  graciously  had  the  word 
preached  been  attested  and  blessed  by  the  converting  Spirit 
of  God.  At  the  present  time  the  numerical  strength  of 
the  Methodist  body,  under  the  care  of  the  British  and  affili- 
ated Conferences,  exceeds  420,000  members  ;  under  the  care 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches  of  the  United  States, 
more  than  double  that  sum  ;f  not  to  speak  of  the  various  off- 
sets from  the  parent  stock — the  New  Connection,  the  Primi- 
tive Methodists,  etc.,  etc.,  or  of  the  immense  multitudes  who 
habitually  hear  the  Gospel  in  the  congregations,  or  of  the 
myriads  of  children  who  are  educated  in  the  schools.  Mean- 
while, in  the  years  gone  by,  hundreds  of  thousands  who 
have  passed  into  eternity  found  in  the  sanctuaries  of  Meth- 
odism the  gate  of  heaven.  It  may  be  seen  that  Adam 

*  "  At  this  Conference  I  parted  with  Mr.  Wesley,  to  see  him  no  more 
till  the  resurrection  of  the  just.  He  appeared  very  feeble.  His  sight 
had  failed  so  much,  that  he  could  not  see  to  give  out  the  hymns.  And 
yet  his  voice  was  strong,  his  spirit  remarkably  lively  ;  and  the  powers  of 
his  mind,  and  his  love  toward  his  fellow-creatures,  were  as  bright  as 
ever." — Jfr.  Atmore's  Journal. 

t  In  1858  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  numbered  956,555 ;  in  the 
M.  E.  Church,  South,  648,986;  total,  1,605,491.— AM.  ED. 


142  LIFE   OF   ADAM  CLARKE. 

Clarke  had  devoted  the  energies  of  his  wasting  life  to  a 
work  worthy  of  the  sacrifice. 

One  of  the  last  subjects  of  anxiety  with  Mr.  Wesley  at 
this  Conference  was,  so  to  arrange  the  work  of  the  preachers 
that,  if  possible,  no  man  should  preach  more  than  twice  on 
the  Sunday.  The  case  of  Mr.  Clarke,  and  a  multitude  of 
others  like  it,  convinced  him  that  these  men  were  exceeding 
the  limits  of  their  natural  strength,  and  running  a  career  of 
self-destruction.  At  the  sight  of  so  many  useful  servants 
of  God  thus  shortening  their  lives,  it  was  his  earnest  desire 
to  adopt  some  plan  which,  by  diminishing  the  Sunday  labor, 
would  give  a  greater  effect  to  their  services,  as  well  as  pro- 
long their  duration.  Accordingly,  (to  use  Mr.  Clarke's 
memorandum,)  "  in  a  private  meeting  with  some  of  the 
principal  and  senior  preachers,  which  was  held  in  Mr.  Wes- 
ley's study,  to  prepare  matters  for  the  Conference,  he  pr«v 
posed  that  a  rule  should  be  made  that  no  preacher  should 
preach  thrice  on  the  same  day.  Messrs.  Mather,  Pawson, 
Thompson,  and  others,  said  this  would  be  impracticable,  as 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  in  most  cases.  .  .  .  Mr.  Wes- 
ley replied,  '  It  must  be  given  up :  we  shall  lose  our  preach- 
ers by  such  excessive  labor.'  They  answered,  '  We  have 
all  done  so ;  and  you  even,  at  an  advanced  age,  have  con- 
tinued to  do  so.'  'What  I  have- done,'  said  he,  'is  out  of 
the  question ;  my  life  and  strength  have  been  under  an 
especial  providence.  Besides,  I  know  better  than  they  how 
to  preach  without  injuring  myself;  and  no  man  can  preach 
thrice  a  day  without  killing  himself  sooner  or  later,  and  the 
custom  shall  not  be  continued.'  They  pressed  the  point  no 
farther,  finding  that  he  was  determined ;  but  after  all  the 
Minute  went  to  press — '  No  preacher  shall  any  more  preach 
three  times  in  the  same  day  (to  the  same  congregation.)' 
By  this  clause  the  Minute  was  entirely  neutralized.  He  who 
preaches  the  Gospel  as  he  ought,  must  do  it  with  his  whole 
strength  of  body  and  soul ;  and  he  who  undertakes  a  labor 
of  this  kind  thrice  every  Lord's  day,  will  infallibly  shorten 
his  life  by  it.  He  who,  instead  of  preaching,  talks  to  the 


THE   CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  143 

people,  merely  speaks  about  good  things,  or  tells  a  religious 
story,  will  never  injure  himself  by  such  an  employment. 
Such  a  person  does  not  labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine  ;  he 
tells  his  tale,  and,  as  he  preaches,  his  congregation  believes, 
and  sinners  are  left  as  he  found  them." 

At  the  Bristol  Conference  Mr.  Clarke  was  appointed  to 
Dublin,  and  he  reached  that  capital  in  the  following  month. 
This  was  a  trust  which  reflected  great  honor  on  him,  and 
showed  the  strong  confidence  entertained  by  Mr.  Wesley 
and  the  preachers  in  his  talents,  prudence,  and  fidelity ;  foi 
the  English  preacher  who  held  that  station,  was  looked  up 
to  as  "  the  general  assistant ;"  that  is,  Mr.  Wesley's  repre- 
sentative or  commissary  over  all  the  Irish  circuits.  The 
critical  state  of  the  society,  moreover,  required  a  man  of 
ability  and  sagacity.  There  were  two  parties  among  them ; 
one  for  an  entire  subjection  to  the  Established  Church ; 
another  with  tendencies  more  free.  "Dr.  Coke,  with  the 
approbation  of  Mr.  Wesley,  had  introduced  the  use  of  the 
Liturgy  into  the  chapel  at  Whitefriar-street.  This  measure 
was  opposed  by  some  of  the  leading  members,  as  tending  to 
what  they  called  a  separation  from  the  Church ;  when,  in 
truth,  it  was  the  most  effectual  way  to  keep  the  society  at- 
tached to  its  spirit  and  doctrines ;  who,  because  they  were 
without  divine  service  in  church  hours,  were  scattered 
throughout  the  city,  some  at  church,  and  many  more  at  dif- 
ferent places  of  Dissenting  worship,  where  they  heard  doc- 
trines that  tended  greatly  to  unsettle  their  religious  opinions ; 
and  in  the  end  many  were  lost  to  the  society.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  introduction  of  the  Liturgy,  a  very  good  con- 
gregation assembled  at  Whitefriar-street ;  and  much  good 
might  have  been  done,  if  the  rich  members  had  not  con- 
tinued hostile  to  the  measure,  by  withdrawing  their  coun- 
tenance and  support,  which  many  of  them  did.  At  last  both 
sides  agreed  to  desire  the  British  Conference,  for  the  sake  of 
peace,  to  restore  matters  to  their  original  state,  and  abolish 
the  morning  service.  Mr.  Clarke,  who  at  that  time  labored 
under  the  same  kind  of  prejudice,  gave  his  voice  against 


1-14  LIFE    OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

the  continuance  of  the  Prayers ;  and  at  his  recommendation 
the  Conference  annulled  the  service.  "This,"  he  affirms, 
"  was  the  greatest  ecclesiastical  error  he  ever  committed, 
and  one  which  he  deeply  deplored  for  many  years;  and  he 
was  thankful  when,  in  the  course  of  Divine  Providence,  he 
was  enabled  afterward  to  restore  that  service  in  the  newly- 
erected  chapel  in  Abbey-street,  which  he  had  formerly  been 
the  instrument  of  putting  down  in  Whitefriar-street ;  that 
very  same  party,  to  please  whom  it  was  done,  having  separ- 
ated from  the  Methodist's  body,  and  set  up  a  spurious  and 
factious  connection  of  their  own,  under  the  name  of  Primi- 
tive Methodism,  a  principal  object  of  which  was  to  deprive 
the  original  Connection  of  its  chapels,  divide  its  societies,  in 
every  way  to  injure  its  finances,  and  traduce  both  its  spirit- 
ual and  loyal  character. 

"It  may  be  asked,  'Why  did  Mr.  Clarke  in  1790  espouse 
the  side  of  this  party  ?"  It  is  but  justice  to  say,  that  to  that 
class  of  men  he  was  under  no  kind  of  obligation ;  they  had 
neglected  him,  though  he  was  on  their  side  of  the  question, 
as  much  as  they  did  those  who  were  opposed  to  them.  He 
and  his  family  had  nothing  but  affliction  and  distress  while 
they  remained  in  Dublin,  and  that  party  neither  ministered 
to  his  necessities  nor  sympathized  with  him  in  his  afflictions. 
What  he  did  was  from  an  ill-grounded  fear  that  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Church  service  might  lead  to  a  separation 
from  the  Church,  (which  the  prejudice  of  education  could 
alone  have  suggested,)  and  he  thought  the  different  societies 
might  be  induced  to  attend  at  their  parish  churches,  and  so 
all  kinds  of  Dissent  be  prevented.  But  multitudes  of  those 
by  whatever  name  they  had  been  called,  had  never  belonged 
to  any  Church,  and  felt  no  religious  attachment  to  any  but 
those  who  had  been  the  means  of  their  salvation.  When, 
therefore,  they  did  not  find  among  the  Methodists  religious 
bfirvice  on  the  proper  times  of  the  Lord's  day,  they  often 
wandered  heedlessly  about,  and  became  unhinged  and  dis- 
tracted with  the  strange  doctrines  they  heard.  Of  this  Mr. 
<  'larke  was  afterwards  fully  convinced,  and  saw  the  folly  of 


T1IE   CIRCUIT  M1NISTEK.  145 

endeavouring  to  force  the  people  to  attend  a  ministry  from 
which  they  had  never  received  any  spiritual  advantage,  and 
the  danger  of  not  endeavouring  to  cultivate  the  soil  which 
had  been  with  great  pain  and  difficulty  inclosed,  bro- 
ken up,  and  sown  with  the  good  seed,  the  word  of  the 
kingdom." 

Notwithstanding  these  differences,  the  work  of  God  had 
not  been  without  some  measure  of  prosperity  among  the 
Methodists  of  Dublin.  Mr.  Clarke  found  that,  some  weeks 
before  his  coming,  *a  remarkable  revival  had  taken  place,  the 
effects  of  which  were  still  felt,  though  retarded  by  the  inju- 
dicious conduct  of  some  who,  though  mistaken,  intended  well. 
I  refer  to  this,  and  give  some  portions  of  a  manuscript  letter 
of  Mr.  Clarke  to  Mr.  Wesley,  for  the  purpose  of  recording 
the  opinion  of  the  latter  on  a  matter  of  abiding  importance — 
the  desirableness  of  prolonging  the  good  influence  of  a  revi- 
val by  avoiding  the  exhaustive  consequences  of  meetings 
protracted  to  an  unusual  length.  This  letter  is  dated  from 
Dublin  in  September.  After  mentioning  his  arrival,  and 
how  he  had  found  his  colleague,  Mr.  Rutherford,  but  slowly 
recovering  from  a  dangerous  illness,  which  had  left  the  peo- 
ple somewhat  in  confusion  through  their  deprival  of  the 
stated  services,  he  thus  goes  on  :  "  The  work  which  was  so 
remarkable  about  the  time  of  Conference  was  hardly  dis- 
cernible when  I  came,  owing,  as  I  am  informed,  to  the  ex- 
travagance and  irregularity  in  the  conduct  of  those  who  took 
the  management  during  Mr.  Rutherford's  indisposition.  The 
times  of  the  prayer-meetings  were  and  are  continued,  but  to 
an  unwarrantable  length,  hardly  ever  breaking  up  before  ten 
or  eleven  o'clock,  and  frequently  continued  till  twelve  or  one. 
And  in  those  meetings  some  have  taken  on  themselves  to 
give  exhortations  of  half  an  hour  or  forty-five  minutes  in 
length.  This  has  a  tendency  to  wear  out  the  people.  I 
have  advised  them  to  shorten  their  prayer-meetings  at 
Whitefriars  on  Sabbath  evenings  after  preaching,  as  I  find 
the  families  of  many  are  shockingly  neglected;  for  how  can 
then-  be  family  religion,  especially  on  the  Lord's  day,  which 

!Q 


146  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

you  know  is  filled  up  with  ordinances,  if  prayer-meetings 
are  continued  till  ten  or  eleven  at  night  ?" 

He  proceeds  to  observe  that  he  finds  it  very  difficult  to  in- 
terfere, as  the  more  zealous  persons  in  the  movement  have 
already  accused  him  of  opposing  the  good  work.  "  We  can 
hardly  expect  a  revival  without  irregularities  and  stumbling- 
blocks  ;  but  my  heart  joins  fully  with  one  of  the  last 
prayers  I  heard  my  reverend  father  offer  in  Bristol :  '  Lord, 
if  possible,  give  us  this  work  without  the  stumbling-blocks  ; 
but,  if  this  cannot  be,  give  us  stumbling-blocks  and  all  rather 
than  not  have  thy  work.'  To  this  my  whole  soul  says 
Amen." 

Mr.  Wesley  replies  in  a  letter  which  has  been  printed  in 
his  Works  :*  "  You  will  have  need  of  all  the  courage  and 
prudence  which  God  has  given  you.  .  .  .  Very  gently  and 
very  steadily  you  should  proceed  between  the  rocks  on 
either  hand.  In  the  great  revival  in  London,  iny  first  diffi- 
culty was  to  bring  into  temper  those  who  opposed  the  work, 
and  my  next,  to  check  and  regulate  the  extravagances  of 
those  who  promoted  it.  And  this  was  far  the  harder,  for 
many  of  them  would  bear  no  check  at  all.  But  I  followed 
one  rule,  though  with  all  calmness :  '  You  must  either  bend 
or  break.'  Meantime,  while  you  act  exactly  right,  expect 
to  be  blamed  by  both  sides.  I  >vill  give  you  a  few  direc- 
tions :  1 .  See  that  no  -prayer-meetings  continue  later  than 
nine  at  night,  particularly  on  Sunday.  Let  the  house  be 
emptied  before  the  clock  strikes  nine.  2.  Let  there  be  no 
exhortation  at  any  prayer-meeting.  3.  Beware  of  jealousy, 
or  judging  one  another.  4.  Never  think  a  man  is  an  enemy 
to  the  work  because  he  reproves  irregularities.  Peace  be 
with  you  and  yours  !" 

These  precepts  merit  consideration  at  all  times;  and  so 
do  some  observations  which  Mr.  Clarke  once  made  on  the 
topic  to  which  they  relate.  One  day,  (as  he  observed.)  hav- 
ing inquired  of  a  pious  couple  who  had  discontinued  their 
attendance  at  the  meeting  for  prayer,  "  How  it  was  they  had 

*  Letter  S21,  Works,  vol.  vii. 


THE  CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  147 

ceased  to  come  as  usual  ?"  he  was  told,  "  "We  cannot  with- 
out standing  during  prayer,  which  we  think  is  unbecoming; 
and  the  prayers  are  so  long  that  we  cannot  kneel  all  the  time  ; 
sometimes,  too,  a  verse  is  given  out  while  the  people  are  on 
their  knees,  and  two  or  three  pray  ;  we  cannot  kneel  so  long, 
and  therefore  we  are  obliged  to  keep  away."  He  could  not 
but  assent  to  the  gravity  of  the  objection.  In  fact  he  had 
himself  suffered  much  inconvenience  from  the  same  cause. 
"  On  one  occasion,"  said  he,  "  a  good  brother  at  a  meeting 
went  to  prayer.  I  kneeled  on  the  floor,  having  nothing  to  sup- 
port me.  He  prayed  forty  minutes.  I  was  unwilling  to  rise, 
and  several  times  was  near  fainting.  What  I  suffered  I  can- 
not describe.  After  the  meeting  I  ventured  to  expostulate 
with  him,  when,  in  addition  to  the  injury  sustained  by 
the  unmerciful  prayer,  I  had  the  following  reproof:  '  My 
brother,  if  your  mind  had  been  more  spiritual,  you  would 
not  have  felt  the  prayer  too  long.'  I  mention  these  circum- 
stances," added  Dr.  Clarke,  "  not  to  excuse  the  careless 
multitude,  but  in  vindication  of  such  sufferers  ;  and  to  show 
the  necessity  of  being  short  in  our  prayers,  if  we  expect 
others  to  join  us." 

In  some  rules  for  the  conducting  of  prayer-meetings, 
drawn  up  by  a  man  of  great  experience,  the  late  Rev.  David 
Stoner,*  we  find  it  prescribed :  "  Let  no  individual  pray  long ; 
in  general  the  utmost  limit  ought  to  be  about  two  min- 
utes. It  will  be  found  much  better  for  one  person  to  pray 
twice  or  thrice  in  the  course  of  the  meeting  than  to  pray 
once  a  long  time.  Long  praying  is  commonly  both  a  symp- 
tom and  a  cause  of  spiritual  deadness."  The  unusual  brev- 
ity here  recommended  will  appear  to  many  of  us  as  the  op- 
posite extreme  to  the  dreary  length  of  exercise  deplored  by 
Mr.  Clarke.  But  of  the  two  Mr.  Stoner's  is,  undoubtedly, 
the  preferable.  Wesley  himself  had  a  strong  repugnance  to 
long  prayers.  He  insists  somewhere  that  the  preachers  in 
the  pulpit  should  not  exceed  ten  minutes  in  that  part  of  the 
service. 

*  See  his  beautiful  biography,  by  Dr.  Hannah  and  Mr.  Dawson. 


148  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

The  winter  was  ushered  in  with  heavy  domestic  affliction, 
which  seriously  interfered  with  the  ministerial  efficiency  of 
the  year  spent  in  Dublin.  The  trustees  had  been  building 
a  new  house  for  the  minister,  which  was  to  serve  at  once 
for  a  school  and  a  parsonage.  The  minister's  family  were  to 
reside  in  the  apartments  on  the  ground-floor,  the  school-room 
stretching  over  all,  above.  Mr.  Clarke  was  obliged  to  take 
possession  of  these  premises  before  they  were  dry.  This 
was  done  at  the  expense  of  his  own  health,  and  that  of  his 
family.  In  a  fortnight  the  afflicted  parents  wept  over  the 
grave  of  their  child ;  and  some  time  after  Mr.  Clarke  him- 
self, whose  cough  had  not  abated  its  severity,  and  whose 
general  health  was  already  so  delicate,  was  attacked  with 
serious  illness,  and  laid  utterly  prostrate.  On  the  20th  of 
January  he  writes  these  few  lines  to  his  sister-in-law :  "  I 
have  requested  the  writing  materials  to  be  brought  to  my 
bedside,  and  use  them,  in  order  to  prove  to  you  that,  because 
the  Lord  liveth,  I  still  exist.  But  a  short  time  ago  there 
was  no  probability  that  you  would  ever  receive  a  line  from 
my  hand.  My  beyond  all  comparison  excellent  Mary  con- 
tinued my  close  attendant  in  the  time  of  unutterable  distress. 
It  added  to  my  affliction  to  see  the  part  she  took  in  it  night 
and  day.  This  is  my  nineteenth  day,  and  I  begin,  though 
slowly,  to  gather  a  little  strength  ;  but  have  had  hardly  any 
sleep  since  I  was  first  seized.  .  .  .  You  will,  perhaps,  wish 
to  know  in  what  stead  my  profession  stood  me  in  the  time 
of  sore  trouble.  I  cannot  enumerate  particulars ;  suffice  it 
to  say,  God  did  not  leave  my  soul  one  moment.  I  was 
kept,  through  the  whole,  in  such  a  state  of  perfect  resigna- 
tion, that  not  a  single  desire  that  the  Lord  would  either  re- 
move or  lessen  the  pain  took  place  in  my  mind  from  the 
beginning  until  now.  I  could  speak  of  nothing  but  mercy. 
Jesus  was  my  all  and  in  all.  The  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth.  Blessed,  blessed  forever,  be  the  name  of  the 
Lord !" 

Mrs.  Clarke's  assiduity  was  maintained  under  the  pres- 
sure of  personal  infirmity,  before  which  she  herself  had  at 


THE  CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  149 

length  to  succumb ;  and  for  three  weeks  husband  and  wife 
were  confined  each  to  a  sick  room.  Toward  the  close  of 
these  trying  days  he  had  a  letter  of  consolation  from  Mr. 

Wesley,  a  few  lines  of  which  I  extract,  as  it  was  the  last 

f. 
Mr.  Clarke  received  from  his  venerable  friend,  then  on  the 

verge  of  eternity :  "  You  have  great  reason,  dear  Adam,  to 
bless  God  for  giving  you  strength  according  to  your  day. 
He  has  indeed  supported  you  in  a  wonderful  manner  under 
these  complicated  afflictions  ;  and  you  may  well  say,  '  I  will 
put  my  trust  in  Thee  as  long  as  I  live.'  I  will  desire  Dr. 
Whitehead  to  consider  your  case,  and  give  you  his  thoughts 
upon  it.  I  am  not  afraid  of  your  doing  too  little,  but  too 
much.  Do  a  little  at  a  time,  that  you  may  do  the  more." 

With  some  degree  of  convalescence,  our  preacher  now 
applied  himself  to  his  work,  and  followed  up  the  energetic 
ministration  of  the  word  with  works  of  beneficence  and  piety 
in  restraining  evil  and  doing  good,  which  could  not  but 
commend  him  to  all  who,  with  the  poet,  could 

"  Venerate  the  man  whose  heart  is  warm, 
Whose  hands  are  pure,  whose  doctrine  and  whose  life, 
Coincident,  exhibit  lucid  proof 
That  he  is  honest  in  the  sacred  cause." 

With  a  heart  naturally  tender,  and  refined  by  the  compas- 
sions of  the  Gospel,  he  strove,  according  to  his  ability,  to 
soothe  the  troubles  of  the  afflicted,  to  heal  the  sick,  and 
lead  the  blind.  To  do  this  more  effectually,  he  sought  to 
secure  the  united  and  organized  efforts  of  such  as  he  could 
find  like-minded  with  himself,  and  succeeded  in  founding  an 
important  institution,  which  not  in  Dublin  only,  but  in  all 
our  great  towns,  has  been  the  means  of  doing  a  wonderful 
amount  of  good  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  the  perishing ; 
namely,  "The  Strangers'  Friend  Society."  The  year  before, 
at  Bristol,  with  the  concurrence  of  Mr.  Wesley,  he  had 
made  an  essay  of  the  same  kind,  which  was  supported  on  a 
small  scale  by  penny-a-week  subscriptions.  In  Dublin  he 
attempted  something  in  a  greater  way ;  and  in  the  different 
towns  in  which  he  was  afterward  stationed  he  followed  the 


150  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

same  design.  In  promoting  these  benevolent  movements, 
he  was  not  only  found  in  the  chair  of  the  committee-room, 
but,  as  a  visitor  of  the  society,  he  went  about  among  the 
miserable  multitudes  of  the  Irish  metropolis,  contributing, 
according  to  the  means  thus  providentially  intrusted  to  him, 
as  well  to  the  wants  of  the  body  as  to  those  of  the  soul. 

The  people  among  whom  he  moved  took  knowledge  of 
him  as  a  man  of  God.  His  own  flock  revered  him  as  one 
who  was  pointing  them  to  a  better  life,  and,  by  example  as 
well  as  precept,  leading  the  way.  Though  in  the  Avorld, 
and  living  actively  for  its  service  and  benefit,  he  was  not  of 
it.  His  very  appearance  indicated  that  he  lived  in  a  men- 
tal region  of  his  own.  Wasted  in  form,  wan  with  illness 
and  labor,  rapt  in  intellectual  abstraction,  he  looked  as  if 
he  did  not  belong  to  the  every-day  world  of  flesh  and  blood. 
As  he  passed  along  the  crowded  streets,  he  appeared  to  see 
no  one,  but  pursued  his  way  as  if  measuring  the  ground,  or 
counting  the  strides  necessary  to  be  taken  from  chapel  to 
chapel. 

As  a  University  city,  Dublin  possessed  a  peculiar  charm 
for  Mr.  Clarke ;  and,  with  his  eager  tendencies  after  knowl- 
edge, we  wonder  not  that  he  seized  the  earliest  opportunity 
to  enter  himself  of  Trinity  College.  The  multifarious  en- 
gagements of  his  life,  however,  and  the  inroads  which  illness 
made  on  his  time,  did  not  allow  him  to  avail  himself  of  the 
general  curriculum  of  study  followed  there.  He  therefore 
restricted  himself  to  attendance  on  the  medical  and  anatom- 
ical courses,  and  to  a  diligent  appropriation  of  material  for 
his  own  future  literary  undertakings  which  he  found  in  the 
college  library,  He  now,  too,  became  acquainted  with  sev- 
eral learned  and  accomplished  persons,  with  whom  he  con- 
tinued to  have  improving  intercourse  in  after  life.  Among 
them  were  the  Rev.  Dr.  Barrett,  the  librarian  of  Trinity ; 
Mrs.  Tighe,  the  authoress  of  "  Psyche,"  a  poem  long  admired 
for  its  pure  sentiment  and  delicate  felicity  of  style ;  and 
an  alchemist  named  Hands,  to  whose  friendship  with  Mr. 
Garke  we  may  revert  on  a  future  page.  We  should  also 


THE   CIRCUIT   MINISTER.  151 

mention  one  of  Mr.  Clarke's  Oriental  friends,  with  whom  he 
became  acquainted  in  Dublin ;  Ibrahim  ibn  Ali,  who  had 
formerly  held  a  captain's  commission  'in  the  army  of  the 
Sultan.  Brought  up  in  the  religion  of  his  father,  a  Moham- 
medan, his  mind  had  nevertheless  been  influenced  by  the 
secret  instructions  of  his  mother,  who  was  a  Greek  and  a 
Christian.  Imprisoned  on  suspicion  of  a  murder,  which  was 
afterward  fully  cleared  up  by  the  surrender  of  the  real  as- 
sassins, he  had  been  in  imminent  danger  of  losing  his  life, 
and  in  the  time  of  peril  had  been  deeply  moved  by  the  ex- 
hortations of  an  old  Spaniard  to  renounce  all  faith  in  the 
false  prophet,  and  confide  in  the  true  Saviour  of  mankind. 
In  this  state  of  mind  he  left  his  native  country,  and  came  to 
England.  From  Liverpool  he  proceeded  to  Dublin,  where, 
inquiring  for  a  person  who  knew  Spanish  or  Arabic,  he  was 
directed  to  Mr.  Clarke,  who  treated  him  with  all  the  kind- 
ness in  his  power.  Ibrahim  became  a  sincere  inquirer  after 
the  truth,  and  found  in  Mr.  Clarke  a  guide  who  led  him 
to  Jesus.  After  due  and  cautious  probation  he  was  at 
length  admitted  to  baptism,  Mr.  Rutherford  performing 
the  sacred  rite,  and  Mr.  Clarke  translating  into  Spanish  the 
words  in  which  it  was  administered.  The  subsequent  career 
of  the  convert  justified  the  hopes  of  his  friends.  He  accom- 
panied Mr.  Clarke  to  England,  and  thence  went  to  America 
in  a  mercantile  capacity,  where  he  married  a  lady  of  the 
Baptist  communion,  and  died  at  last  steadfast  in  the  faith. 

The  year  in  Dublin  drew  to  a  close,  and  Mr.  Clarke  felt 
it  his  duty  to  terminate,  for  the  present,  his  connection  with 
the  circuit.  His  feeble  health  unfitted  him  to  cope  with 
some  of  the  peculiar  difficulties  of  a  station  so  responsible  ; 
and  the  party  spirit  which  reigned  so  strongly  at  that  time 
in  Dublin  compelled  him  to  decide  on  returning  to  En- 
gland. The  Conference  was  to  be  held  in  Manchester,  and 
the  Dublin  preachers  prepared  to  go.  Mrs.  Clarke,  also, 
and  the  little  ones,  were  to  accompany  them,  thus  making 
but  one  voyage  for  the  family.  But  this  arrangement  was 
not  carried  out.  From  some  letters  of  this  excellent  lady, 


152  LIFE   OF   ADAM    CLARKE. 

which  have  been  confided  to  me,  I  take  the  liberty  to  extract 
a  few  sentences  : 

"  When  I  wrote  last  I  thought  it  would  have  been  my 
last  letter  from  Dublin  ;  but  I  wrote  doubtfully,  because  I 
well  know  the  uncertainty  of  all  things  here  below.  And 
sd  it  has  been  in  reference  to  my  going  to  England.  We 
had  our  chests  packed,  and  all  ready  for  embarkation,  when 
John  was  seized  with  the  measles.  I  could  not  think  of 
taking  the  child  to  sea  in  that  condition,  and  gave  up  the 
thought  of  accompanying  Mr.  Clarke,  who  could  not  be  de- 
tained. The  people  were  glad,  as  they  thought  it  would 
secure  Mr.  Clarke's  return  for  me.  The  time  was  set  for 
the  preachers  to  sail,  but  no  packet  came  into  port.  Day 
by  day  they  waited;  still  no  vessel  came.  Meanwhile 
John  grew  better  apace ;  and  no  vessel  arriving  till  Satur- 
day, fearing  to  be  too  late  for  the  Conference,  they  set  sail. 
Mr.  Clarke  and  Mr.  Rutherford  wished  to  stay  behind  till 
Monday,  when  John  might  with  safety  have  gone  too ;  but 
they  feared  a  second  detention,  and  overruled  that  all  the 
preachers  should  go  together.  Accordingly  they  sailed,  and 
after  encountering  some  sore  weather  at  sea,  arrived  safe  in 
Liverpool  after  a  forty-eight  hours'  passage.  Thus  much 
concerning  our  going  to  England.  Where  we  shall  be  the 
corning  year,  I  know  no  more  than  an  utter  stranger.  I 
should  fear  to  choose.  Wherever  we  are,  I  trust  it  will  be 
for  God's  glory,  and  the  good  of  many  souls." 


THE  CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  153 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    CIRCUIT    MINISTEK. 

THE  Conference  assembled  at  Manchester.  It  was  the 
forty-eighth,  and  for  the  first  time  they  met  without  the 
presence  of  him  who  had  been  their  earthly  head.  The 
apostle  of  England  had  finished  his  glorious  course  on  the 
second  of  March,  revered  by  an  innumerable  multitude  of 
good  men.  Serious  fears  had  been  entertained  by  many 
true  friends  of  the  Methodist  cause,  that  this  event  would 
prove  fatal  to  its  unity,  and  even  endanger  its  existence. 
Soon,  however,  these  apprehensions  were  shown  to  be 
groundless.  Methodism,  a  visible  work  of  God,  abides  and 
prospers,  when  individual  men,  however  honored  in  having 
been  employed  by  him  as  the  agents  of  his  great  purposes 
of  mercy,  are  called  from  the  labors  of  this  life  to  their 
eternal  repose.  The  preachers  were  brought  more  than 
ever  to  feel  their  dependence  on  the  adorable  Head  of  the 
Church,  who  liveth  evermore.  Such  being  their  frame  of 
mind,  they  were  now  cheered  in  their  sorrow  by  tokens  of 
his  presence  who  has  said,  "  Fear  not  for  I  am  with  you." 
In  a  brief  memorial  prefixed  to  the  Minutes  of  this  Confer- 
ence, while  they  confess  to  the  societies  their  inability  to 
represent  adequately  their  feelings  on  account  of  their  "  great 
loss,"  they  express  their  solemn  purpose  and  hope  that  they 
"  shall  give  the  most  substantial  proofs  of  their  veneration 
for  the  memory  of  their  most  esteemed  father  and  friend,  by 
endeavoring  with  great  humility  and  diffidence,  to  follow  and 
imitate  him  in  doctrine,  discipline,  and  life." 

The  cause  for  which  Wesley  lived  and  labored  thus  sur- 
vived him.  His  wise  provision  had  secured  for  the  minis- 
ters as  a  body,  by  the  Deed  of  Declaration,  a  legal  status 


154  LIFE   OF    ADAM    CLARKE. 

in  the  country  ;  and  had  consolidated  and  insured  the  ecclesi- 
astical property  of  the  Connection  for  the  sole  purposes  for 
which  it  had  been  created — the  existence  and  sustentation  of 
simple,  pure,  and  evangelic  agencies  for  the  salvation  of  the 
people.  Among  the  preachers,  too,  there  were  many  who 
had  grown  old  with  him  in  the  work ;  and  to  them  their 
brethren  looked  up  with  ingenuous  and  open-hearted  confi- 
dence. From  among  these  one  was  now  selected  as  the 
presidential  head  of  the  Connection  for  the  current  year,  and 
this  honor  fell  upon  the  Rev.  William  Thompson,  a  man 
venerable  for  piety,  wisdom,  and  ability.  The  office  of  sec- 
retary was  conferred  on  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coke.  All  the  acts 
of  the  Conference  were  distinguished  by  a  single-minded 
purpose  to  do  all  to  the  supreme  glory  of  God.  "  I  have 
been,"  said  Mr.  Clarke,  "  at  several  Conferences ;  but  have 
never  seen  one  in  which  the  spirit  of  unity,  love,  and  a  sound 
mind  so  generally  prevailed.  I  would  have  this  intelligence 
transmitted  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  and  let  the  earth  know 
that  the  dying  words  of  our  revered  father  have  their  ac- 
complishment— 'The  Lord  is  with  us.'" 

Mr.  Clarke's  new  station  was  Manchester.  The  favor  had 
been  offered  him  of  making  his  own  choice  of  a  circuit ;  but 
this  he  declined,  anxious,  as  he  said,  that  God  should  station 
him.  Having  his  lot  providentially  fixed  at  Manchester,  he 
was  enabled  in  the  two  following  years  to  avail  himself  re- 
peatedly of  the  benefit  of  the  waters  at  Buxton,  which  con- 
tributed in  a  good  degree  to  the  reinstatement  of  his  health. 
Of  the  great  utility  of  those  waters,  especially  in  rheumatic 
affections,  he  ever  after  expressed  a  high  opinion. 

Mrs.  Clarke  and  her  little  ones  arrived  in  Liverpool  after 
a  long  passage,  through  a  stormy  sea,  which  had  caused  no 
small  anxiety  to  her  husband,  who  was  waiting  daily  for 
them  "  in  great  misery,"  to  use  his  own  words,  "  in  conse- 
quence of  the  prolonged  voyage  of  my  wife  and  children, 
who,  I  had  reason  to  fear,  were  swallowed  up  in  the  great 
deep.  Twice  every  day  for  a  week  I  went  down  to  the  dock 
to  look  out  for  the  Dublin  packet,  which  contrary  winds  had 


THE   CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  155 

detained  at  sea.  At  length,  while  standing  on  the  quay  one 
evening,  the  vessel,  to  my  inexpressible  joy,  hove  in  sight : 
I  beheld  my  Mary  and  the  children  upon  deck,  and  hailed 
them  as  from  the  dead.  I  got  on  board  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  found  the  little  ones  almost  starved ;  for,  owing  to  the 
tediousness  of  the  voyage,  being  several  days  on  the  water, 
all  provision  had  been  for  some  time  expended.  I  instantly 
took  Adam  (I  had  an  Adam  then)  on  one  arm,  and  John 
on  the  other ;  and,  running  with  them  into  a  baker's  shop, 
gave  to  each  a  twopenny  loaf,  and  in  an  instant  their  little 
faces  were  almost  buried  in  them.  I  then  hastened  with 
something  to  my  wife ;  and  we  walked  to  a  home,  no  longer 
desolate  to  me,  blessing  the  God  of  all  mercy  for  the  protec- 
tion he  had  extended  while  in  the  midst  of  peril  and  distress." 

At  the  custom-house  he  had  much  annoyance  from  the 
reckless  exorbitance  of  the  officials,  who  turned  his  boxes  of 
books  inside  out,  charged  him  threepence  per  pound  for  the 
classical  works,  and  five  pounds  for  a  philosophical  instru- 
ment !  At  length,  however,  the  re-united  family  found  them- 
selves settled  in  their  new  abode ;  and  Mr.  Clarke,  with 
such  strength  as  he  had,  addressed  himself  to  the  duties  of 
the  opening  year. 

Hitherto  he  had  traveled  with  men  who,  though  pious  and 
faithful  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
distinguished  by  extraordinary  ability.  It  was  now  Mr. 
Clarke's  lot  to  be  associated  with  two  colleagues  whose 
names  have  a  well-deserved  renown  in  the  Methodist  world, 
for  the  splendor  of  their  talents  and  the  importance  of  their 
services  to  the  cause  to  which  they  were  consecrated.  Mr. 
Bradburn  was,  confessedly,  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
orators  of  the  day,  a  man  of  expansive  mind  and  generous 
impulses  of  heart,  though  not  free  from  the  eccentricities 
which  often  reveal  themselves  in  persons  of  genius.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  Mr.  Benson  the  Church  possessed  a  minister 
remarkable  not  only  for  great  fervency  of  spirit,  but  also  for 
an  almost  imperturbable  correctness  of  judgment,  and  an 
affluence  of  theological  learning  which  placed  him  in  the 


156  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

highest  order  of  divines.  Very  few  men  have  been  better 
read  in  the  Greek  Testament,  and  few  commentators  have 
given  so  clear  an  exposition  of  it.  But  it  was  in  the  pulpit 
that  he  brought  those  gifts  and  graces  to  bear,  with  the 
most  signal  effect,  upon  the  great  end  of  all,  the  salvation 
of  souls.  His  ministry  was  transcendently  apostolic.  With 
many  disadvantages  of  person  and  voice,  he  exercised  a  like 
lofty  sway  over  assemblages  comprising  intellects  of  every 
grade.  While  Benson  preached,  the  scholar  and  the  peasant 
bowed  in  common  before  the  majesty  of  truth,  which,  in 
plain,  unadorned  English  phrases,  awoke  them  as  with  the 
thunder-storms  of  Sinai,  or  melted  them  as  with  the  voice 
from  the  cross.*  With  fellow-laborers  like  these,  whose 
names  were  in  the  book  of  life,  Mr.  Clarke  would  no  doubt 
find  all  the  soul  that  was  within  him  roused  into  lawful  emu- 
lation and  holy  sympathy. 

Yet  there  appears  to  have  been  one  drawback.  He  could 
not  feel  free  to  coincide  with  them  as  to  the  line  he  considered 
they  were  taking  in  respect  to  the  grand  political  question 
of  the  times.  The  bloody  drama  of  the  French  Revolution 
was  then  unfolding  scene  after  scene  of  horror.  Two  classes 
of  opinions  on  this  great  crisis  held  sway  on  the  British  side 
of  the  Channel.  One  school  of  political  men,  represented 
by  Fox,  seemed  to  hear  in  the  groans  of  wholesale  murders, 
which  the  winds  wafted  to  our  snores,  only  the  death-pangs  of 
tyranny,  and  the  transient  throes  that  were  destined  to  usher 
in  an  era  of  permanent  liberty  and  repose;  while  men  of  an- 
other class,  represented  by  Burke,  horror-struck  at  the  ghastly 
realities  of  the  present,  were  incapable  of  gathering  any  augury 

*  We  have  been  told  that  his  sermons  were  sometimes  attended  not 
only  by  the  common  clergy,  but  by  bishops  of  the  Church.  That  great 
and  good  man,  the  Rev.  Richard  Cecil,  greatly  delighted  to  hear  him. 
He  said  that  Mr.  Benson  seemed  like  a  messenger  sent  from  the  other 
world,  to  call  men  to  account.  "Mr.  Benson,"  said  Robert  Hall,  "is  ir- 
resistible, perfectly  irresistible  1"  Memoirs  of  his  life  have  been  written 
by  Macdonald  and  Treffry ;  and  a  masterly  delineation  of  his  character, 
from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Bunting,  appears  in  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Maga- 
zine for  1822. 


THE  CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  157 

of  good  for  the  future  from  a  seed-time  so  portentuously  evil. 
The  riots  at  Birmingham,  caused  by  the  Gallo-mania  of  Dr. 
Priestley  and  his  adherents,  and  the  general  tendency  among 
the  masses  to  be  led  away  by  the  dogmas  of  Paine,  as  the 
French  had  been  by  those  of  Voltaire,  served  to  bring  the 
threatening  evil  home  to  our  very  thresholds.  While  society 
was  thus  perturbed  to  its  foundations,  with  "  distress  of  na- 
tions "  and  "  perplexity,  the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring,  men's 
hearts  failing  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking  after  those  things 
that  were  coming  on  the  earth,"  it  seems  to  have  been  im- 
possible, nay,  it  would  have  been  a  guilty  breach  of  duty, 
for  the  watchman  in  the  pulpit  to  hold  his  peace.  But  then 
uniformity  of  doctrine  could  not  be  well  expected  on  matters 
like  these,  and  the  counsels  delivered  from  the  sacred  desk 
took  a  tinge  from  the  sentiments,  antagonistic  to  each  other, 
which  through  the  long  hours  of  many  a  night  were  then 
reasoned  out  in  the  Senate.  Messrs.  Benson  and  Bradburn 
differed,  undoubtedly,  in  their  modes  of  treating  this  grave 
problem ;  but  certainly  not  to  that  extent  which  might  be 
inferred  from  the  hastily  written  terms  in  Dr.  Clarke's  state- 
ment of  the  matter :  "  It  was  the  lot  of  Mr.  Clarke  to  be  as- 
sociated at  this  time  with  two  eminent  men,  who  unfortun- 
ately took  opposite  sides  of  this  great  political  question ; 
one  pleading  for  the  lowest  republicanism,  while  the  other 
exhausted  himself  in  maintaining  the  divine  right  of  kings 
and  regular  governments  to  do  what  might  seem  right  in 
their  own  eyes,  the  people  at  large  having  nothing  to  do  with 
the  laws  but  to  obey  them.  His  soul  was  grieved  at  this 
state  of  things ;  but  he  went  calmly  on  his  way,  preaching 
Christ  crucified  for  the  redemption  of  a  lost  world ;  and, 
though  his  abilities  were  greatly  inferior  to  those  of  his  col- 
leagues, his  congregations  were  equal  to  theirs,  and  his  word 
more  abundantly  useful.  Political  preachers  neither  convert 
souls  nor  build  up  believers  on  their  most  holy  faith.  One 
may  pique  himself  on  his  loyalty,  and  another  on  his  liber- 
ality ;  but,  in  the  sight  of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  the 
first  is  a  sounding  brass,  the  second  a  tinkling  cymbal.  .  .  . 


158  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

When  preachers  of  the  Gospel  become  parties  in  party  pol- 
itics, religion  mourns  ;  the  Church  is  unedified,  and  political 
disputes  agitate  even  the  faithful  of  the  land.  Such  preach- 
ers, no  matter  which  side  they  take,  are  no  longer  the  mes- 
sengers of  glad  tidings,  but  the  seedsmen  of  confusion,  and 
wasters  of  the  heritage  of  Christ.  Though  Mr.  Clarke  had 
fully  made  up  his  mind  on  the  politics  of  the  day,  and  never 
swerved  from  his  Whig  principles,  yet  in  the  pulpit  there 
was  nothing  heard  from  him  but  Christ  crucified,  and  the 
salvation  procured  by  his  blood." 

It  must  be  confessed  there  is  a  tone  of  unkindness  about 
this  paragraph,  very  unlike  the  magnanimity  of  Dr.  Clarke, 
which  indicates  that  his  mind  at  this  time  was  under  some 
influence,  to  us  unknown,  which,  in  regard  to  this  particular 
subject,  beclouded  his  usually  clear  judgment.  In  the  opin- 
ion he  has  expressed  on  the  conduct  of  his  colleagues,  he  was 
undoubtedly  mistaken ;  or,  to  use  the  words  of  a  former 
biographer,  "  he  was  not  sufficiently  guarded  in  his  expres- 
sions. It  may  be  true  that  Messrs.  Bradburn  and  Benson 
ranged  themselves  on  opposite  sides  ;  that  Mr.  Bradburn 
took  his  stand  on  the  side  of  Liberty,  and  Mr.  Benson  on 
that  of  Order ;  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  prove  that  the 
one  was  so  violent  a  champion  of  '  legitimacy,'  or  the  other 
so  determined  '  an  advocate  of  the  iowest  republicanism,'  as 
Dr.  Clarke  represents  them  to  have  been.  Both  these  cele- 
brated ministers  may  have  been  betrayed  by  a  well-meant 
zeal  into  the  occasional  introduction  of  their  political  specu- 
lations into  the  pulpit ;  but  it  is  monstrous  to  suppose  that 
from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath  they  carried  on  a  systematic  war- 
fare. Mr.  Clarke  must  have  been  misled  by  the  reports  of 
ignorant  or  designing  men,  who,  being  themselves,  perhaps, 
violent  partisans,  tinged  everything  with  the  deep  hue  of 
their  own  excitement;  for  while  discharging  his  own  duties 
with  the  zeal  with  which  he  always  did  discharge  them,  he 
could  not  be  engaged  in  collecting  the  evidence  upon  which 
he  founded  his  statement.  Mr.  Bradburn,  indeed,  published 
a  sermon  on  '  Equality,'  in  which  his  prime  end  was  to 


THE   CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  159 

show,  '  that  a  firm  adherence  to  the  principles  of  unlimited 
religious  liberty  was  perfectly  consistent  with  a  steadfast 
attachment  to  the  king,  whom  he  earnestly  prayed  God  to 
bless,  and  to  the  civil  constitution,  which  in  itself  was  excel- 
lent, and  of  which  he  highly  approved.'  '  If  there  had  been 
no  such  scripture,'  he  remarks,  'as  that  which  commands  us 
to  honor  the  king,  we,'  the  Methodists,  'as  a  people,  have 
reason  to  love  King  George,  and  to  be  pleased  with  the  civil 
government.'  To  such  an  extent,  indeed,  did  Mr.  Bradburn 
carry  his  views  of  loyalty,  that  he  maintained  it  to  be  thu 
duty  of  the  Methodists  '  to  be  loyal,  were  a  Pagan  upon  the 
throne ;'  for  he  adds,  '  what  with  some  is  mere  policy,  is 
with  us  a  case  of  conscience.'  The  whole  scope  of  the  dis- 
course is  to  expose  the  leveling  politics  which  were  then  so 
warmly  advocated."  * 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Benson  found  himself  moving  in 
a  population  among  which  infidelity  and  republicanism  were 
making  victims  of  the  same  men  in  increasing  numbers 
every  week.  Paine  and  Voltaire  had  indoctrinated  them 
not  only  with  hatred  to  King  George,  but  with  hatred  to 
Jesus  Christ.  In  these  circumstances  he  surely  did  not  de- 
part from  his  duty,  but  fulfilled  it,  in  warning  his  hearers 
against  the  horrid  contamination  to  which  they  were  exposed, 
and  in  reasoning  with  those  who  were  too  likely  to  be  mis- 
guided, in  order  to  show  them  the  better  way.  Mr.  Ben- 
son's ministry  was  one  of  almost  matchless  power,  as  the 
day  of  revelation  will  declare.  There  is  little  hazard  in 
affirming  that  he  was  incapable  of  mixing  up  party  politics 
with  the  momentous  matters  proper  to  the  pulpit — a  course 
which  would  have  merited  all  the  severe  reprehension  con- 
veyed in  the  foregoing  extract. 

Mr.  Clarke's  health  had  not  yet  become  sufficiently  con- 
firmed to  prevent  occasional  relapses  of  illness.  After  one 
of  those  seasons,  he  writes  to  his  friend  Mr.  Mather,  that 
December  and  January  had  been  trying  months  :  "  I 
dreaded  the  time  of  meeting  the  classes,  as  this  always  ex- 

*  Hare's  Life  and  Lahore  of  Adam  Clarke,  LL.D. 


160  LIFE  OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

ceedingly  hurts  me,  and  cried  to  God  for  support.  Glory 
be  to  God !  that  work  is  now  done ;  and  I  have  been  heard 
in  that  I  feared.  There  is  a  good  work  among  the  people. 
Many  are  stirred  up  to  seek  purity  of  heart,  and  two  men 
at  our  last  public  bands  gave  a  clear,  rational  account  of  a 
complete  deliverance  from  all  evil  tempers  and  desires,  in 
consequence  of  which  they  have  constant  communion  with 
the  Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  dwelling  in  them.  They  have  enjoyed  this  glorious 
liberty  about  two  months.  As  the  Lord  has  condescended 
to  make  me  the  instrument  of  their  happy  deliverance  from 
an  evil  heart,  it  is  a  great  encouragement  for  me  to  proceed 
in  my  work.  There  are  some  here  who  ridicule  the  mention 
of  a  work  of  this  kind.  They  know  best  from  whom  they 
have  learned  to  do  so ;  but  God  enables  me  to  bear  down 
prejudice  by  a  number  of  arguments,  deduced  from  his  na- 
ture and  promises.  I  look  on  this  doctrine  as  the  greatest 
honor  of  Methodism,  and  the  glory  of  Christ.  The 
Almighty  forbid  it  should  ever  cease  among  us !" 

In  the  absorbing  duties  of  the  circuit  two  years  passed 
rapidly  away.  Notwithstanding  the  turbulent  character  of 
the  times,  and  the  differences  which  prevailed  in  the  Soci- 
eties on  the  question  of  service  in  church  hours,  and  others 
arising  from  the  anomalous  position  which  Methodism  then 
held  with  regard  to  the  Establishment,  the  interests  of  reli- 
gion were  sustained  and  promoted  in  the  circuit ;  and  among 
other  good  enterprises,  a  Stangers'  Friend  Society  was  set 
in  active  operation.  "  Mr.  Clarke  and  I,"  writes  Mr.  Brad- 
burn,  "have  instituted  a  new  charity,  called  the  Strangers' 
Friend  Society.  It  succeeds  beyond  our  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations. We  have  many  pounds  in  hand.  It  is  certainly 
very  affecting  to  hear  of  the  good  done  every  week  by  it." 
These  two  servants  of  the  same  Master,  the  longer  they 
lived  together,  liked  one  another  the  better.  "  Mr.  Clarke," 
says  Bradburn,  "  is  a  choice  companion,  when  known ;  he  is 
all  in  all  as  my  own  soul."  On  the  other  side,  Clarke  had 
the  greatest  admiration  for  his  colleague's  talents.  "  Put 


THE  CIRCUIT  MINISTER.  161 

them  all  together,"  said  he,  referring  to  several  distinguished 
men,  "  he  was  not  like  any  of  them  ;  they  would  not  all  of 
them  make  such  a  man.  He  was  like  no  man  but  himself. 
I  never  knew  one  with  so  great  a  command  of  language." 

In  the  house  in  which  Mr.  Clarke  lived  in  Manchester  he 
left  a  memorial  of  his  veneration  for  Mr.  Wesley,  in  an  in- 
scription written  with  a  diamond's  point  on  a  pane  of  glass 
in  his  study  window  :  "  Good  men  need  not  marble ;  I  dare 
trust  glass  with  the  memory  of  John  Wesley,  A.  M.,  late 
Fellow  of  Lincoln  College,  Oxford  ;  who,  with,  indefatigable 
zeal  and  perseverance,  traveled  through  these  kingdoms 
preaching  Jesus  for  more  than  half  a  century.  By  his  un- 
paralleled labors  and  writings  he  revived  and  spread  Scrip- 
tural Christianity  wherever  he  went;  for  God  was  with 
him.  But,  having  finished  his  work,  by  keeping,  preaching, 
and  defending  the  faith,  he  ceased  to  live  among  mortals, 
March  ii,  MDCCXCI,  in  the  eighty -eighth  year  of  his  age. 
As  a  small  token  of  continued  filial  respect,  this  inscription 
is  humbly  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  the  above,  by  his 
affectionate  son  in  the  Gospel,  Adam  Clarke." 

Upon  the  same  window  in  the  house  in  Dale-street  some 
other  inscriptions  were  recorded  by  the  same  hand,  consist- 
ing of  three  Greek  quotations  from  the  works  of  St.  Clement 
of  Alexandria. 

The  term  of  the  Manchester  appointment  expired  in  July, 
1 703 ;  and  a  new  scene  of  labor  opened  to  him  in  the  Liver- 
pool Circuit.  As  in  Dublin,  so  in  Manchester,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Clarke  had  to  leave  one  of  their  children  a  tenant  of 
the  grave.  Their  little  son,  Adam,  was  taken  from  them 
by  a  disease  of  the  throat.  The  loss  of  this  favorite  child 
was  always  a  tender  grief  in  Dr.  Clarke's  mind,  nor  could 
he  be  persuaded  to  give  his  own  Christian  name  again  to 
either  of  the  sons  who  were  afterward  added  to  his  family. 

At  Liverpool  he  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  having  for  his 
colleague  the  Rev.  John  Pawson,  a  man  of  saintly  life,  and 
greatly  revered  in  the  Methodist  communion,  both  by 
preachers  and  people.  With  this  much-loved  and  devoted 

II 


162  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

servant  of  Christ  he  worked  in  perfect  harmony,  and  the 
pleasure  of  the  Lord  prospered  in  their  hands.  Comfort- 
ably renovated  in  health,  and  with  the  dew  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  descending  daily  upon  his  soul,  he  gave  himself  to 
earnest  study,  the  visitation  of  the  afflicted,  and  unremitted 
preaching  in  town  and  country  ;  his  days  now  glided  serene- 
ly on.  The  circuit  at  that  time  was  more  extensive  than  at 
present,  and  many  of  the  places  were  at  great  distances. 
The  traveling  Mr.  Clarke  accomplished  in  general  on  foot ; 
and  on  that  account  preferring  always,  if  possible,  to  return 
home,  his  journeys  after  preaching  were  often  late  at  night. 
On  one  occasion,  in  returning  from  Aintree  in  company 
with  his  brother  Tracy,  two  Roman  Catholics,  who  had 
heard  him  preach,  lay  in  wait  for  him.  One  of  them  from 
behind  the  hedge  threw  a  stone  of  more  than  a  pound 
weight  at  his  head,  with  such  force  that  it  cut  through  his 
hat  and  inflicted  a  deep  wound.  His  brother  lifted  him 
from  the  ground,  and  carried  him  to  a  cottage  hard  by, 
bleeding  profusely.  He  dressed  the  wound,  and  then  went 
in  pursuit  of  the  men,  whom  he  found  in  a  public-house. 
Upon  being  charged  with  the  offense,  each  accused  the 
other.  Mr.  Tracy  Clarke  succeeded  in  having  them  appre- 
hended, and  returned  to  his  brother.  Here  he  found  that 
the  people  of  the  cottage  were  R&manists  themselves,  and 
that,  on  learning  the  facts  of  the  case,  they  had  expressed 
their  strong  approval  of  the  outrage,  and  their  wishes  that 
it  had  proved  fatal  to  the  preacher.  In  these  circumstances 
it  was  judged  best,  ill  as  he  was,  that  he  should  be  removed 
from  so  inhospitable  a  refuge,  and  taken  to  his  brother's 
house  at  Maghull,  from  whence,  the  next  day,  "  the  picture 
of  death,  with  his  hair  and  clothes  still  covered  with  blood," 
he  was  brought  home  to  his  alarmed  wife.  The  illness 
caused  by  this  affair  consumed  more  than  a  month  of  his 
valuable  time,  and  even  threatened  for  a  while  to  terminate 
in  death.  On  recovei'ing  he  refused  to  prosecute,  the  men 
binding  themselves  to  refrain  from  similar  conduct.  He 
learned,  however,  in  after  days,  that  both  of  them,  by  pro- 


THE   CIRCUIT   MINISTER.  163 

gressive  breaches  of  the  law,  had  ultimately  come  to  an 
evil  end. 

Mr.  Clarke's  place  of  residence  in  Liverpool  was  badly 
situated  on  a  clay  soil,  where  in  those  days  extensive  opera- 
tions in  brick-making  were  carried  on.  The  house  was  also 
in  a  confined  situation,  and  surrounded  by  that  description 
of  small  habitations  which,  from  want  of  cleanliness  in 
their  inmates,  create  a  perpetual  annoyance.  His  own 
description  was  very  forcible :  "  The  house  is  small,  the 
street  in  which  it  stands  miserable,  the  neighborhood 
wretchedly  poor  and  wicked ;  the  rest  I  leave."  A  gentle- 
man desirous  of  paying  his  respects  demanded,  "  Pray 
where  do  you  reside,  sir  ?"  "  Neither  in  hell,  nor  purgatory, 
yet  in  a  place  of  torment,"  was  the  reply.  "  Well,  but 
where  is  it  1"  was  the  reiterated  question.  He  answered, 
"  You  must  go  down  Dale-street,  then  along  East-street, 
and  when  you  are  up  to  the  middle  in  clay  and  mud,  call 
out  lustily  for  Adam  Clarke."  The  society,  however,  it 
must  be  said  to  their  honor,  afterward  released  him  from 
that  locality,  and  removed  his  home  to  one  of  the  best  parts 
of  the  town. 

In  the  second  year  of  the  Liverpool  appointment  Mr. 
Clarke's  father  and  mother  came  to  reside  in  that  part  of 
England ;  his  father  having  undertaken  to  conduct  a  classi- 
cal school  at  Manchester.  They  were  thus  brought  into  the ' 
vicinity  of  their  two  excellent  sons,  the  one  a  healer  of  the. 
body,  and  the  other  an  increasingly  honored  minister  of 
Him  who  can  save  the  soul ;  each  of  them  in  his  depart- 
ment a  hard-working  man,  and  each  of  them  blessed  in  his 
deed. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  Mr.  Clarke  attended  the  Con- 
ference which  was  held  at  Bristol.  The  great  Methodist 
question  of  that  time  involved  the  celebration  of  service  in 
church  hours,  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  in 
the  chapels.  Some  few  of  the  preachers,  and  more  of  the 
1  -ading  trustees  in  the  principal  circuits,  were  adverse  to 
these  measures;  but  the  majority  of  the  preachars  and  the 


164  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

great  body  of  the  people  were  in  favor  of  them.  The  more 
formal  secession  of  Methodism,  as  an  ecclesiastical  organ- 
ization, from  the  Established  Church,  indicated  by  such 
movements,  had  been  from  year  to  year  becoming  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  the  circumstances  which  compose  its 
early  history.  We  should  recollect  that  what  may  be 
called  the  first  generation  of  Methodists  did  not  by  any 
means  consist  of  members  of  the  Church  of  England.  A 
minority  of  them  were  such ;  others  had  been  accustomed 
to  hear  the  Gospel  among  the  Nonconformists ;  but  the 
greater  mass  of  them  were  persons  who  had  belonged  to  no 
Church,  and  many  of  them  had  not  even  been  baptized. 
They  had  been  saved  from  ruin  by  being  gathered  out  of 
the  world,  and  brought  into  the  fellowship  of  the  people  of 
God.  Now,  the  duty  of  the  parochial  clergy  was  to  cherish 
this  hopeful  movement  among  the  lower  orders  of  the  people, 
to  cheer  on  their  adventurous  brethren  who  had  gone  out 
into  the  waste  places  to  bring  the  wanderers  home  to  Christ, 
and  to  receive  into  the  fold  of  the  Church  these  newly 
awakened  souls ;  but,  by  a  marvelous  infatuation,  they  re- 
pelled them.  From  the  primate,  Archbishop  Potter,  who 
hinted  excommunication  to  the  Wesleys,  and  the  bishops 
Warburton  and  Lavington,  who  assailed  them  and  their 
people  with  reproaches  and  sarcasms,  down  to  the  most  ob- 
scure country  parson  who  raised  the  rabble  of  his  parish  to 
disturb  their  worship  and  maltreat  their  preachers,  perse- 
cution of  the  Methodists  on  the  part  of  the  Church  was  the 
order  of  the  day.  "  Now  it  was,"  says  Mr.  Wesley,  in  a 
paper  addressed  to  the  clergy  themselves,  "  that  the  bishops 
began  to  speak  against  us,  either  in  conversation  or  in  pub- 
lic; and,  on  this  encouragement,  the  clergy  stirred  up  the 
people  to  treat  us  as  outlaws  or  mad  dogs.  The  people  did 
so,  both  in  Staffordshire,  Cornwall,  and  many  other  places ; 
and  they  still  do  so,  wherever  they  are  not  restrained  by 
their  fear  of  the  secular  magistrate." 

We  have  said  that  many  of  the  people  gathered  in  by 
tin-  preachers  were  not  even  baptized;  they  were  brought 


THE   CIRCUIT   MINISTER.  165 

to  the  parish  church,  therefore,  that  they  might  then  be  num- 
bered among  the  legitimate  communicants.  They  were  re- 
fused a  welcome.  On  what  ground  ?  Because  there  were 
too  many  of  them !  "  October  13th,  I  waited,"  says  Mr. 
Charles  Wesley,  "  with  my  brother,  upon  a  minister,  about 
baptizing  some  of  his  parish.  He  complained  heavily  of 
the  multitude  of  our  communicants,  and  produced  the  canon 
against  strangers.  Pie  could  not  admit  that  as  a  reason  for 
their  coming  to  his  church,  that  they  had  no  sacrament  at 
their  own.  I  offered  my  assistance  to  lessen  his  trouble, 
but  he  declined  it.  There  were  a  hundred  of  new  communi- 
cants, he  told  us,  last  Sunday  ;  some  of  whom,  he  said,  came 
out  of  spite  to  him.  We  bless  God  for  this  cause  of  offense, 
and  pray  it  may  never  be  removed  !"  * 

So,  when  such  multitudes  had  been  converted  in  the  city 
and  neighborhood  of  Bristol,  "  the  brothers  pressed  the  peo- 
ple to  attend  the  religious  services  of  the  national  Church, 
and  set  the  example  themselves.  The  clergy  in  Bristol  at 
first  complained  of  the  increase  of  their  labor  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Lord's  Supper.  When  they  found  that 
complaints  addressed  to  the  '  intruders '  were  of  no  avail, 
and  that  the  inconvenience  rather  increased  than  diminished, 
they  entered  into  an  agreement  among  themselves  to  repel 
from  the  Lord's  table  both  the  Wesleys  and  the  people  whom 
they  brought  to  church.'1'1  * 

Who,  then,  can  wonder  that  the  Methodist  people  were 
constrained  to  seek  the  consolations  of  Christ's  sacraments 
from  the  hands  of  the  men  to  whom,  under  God,  they  owed 
the  salvation  of  their  souls  ?  But  while  the  mass  of  the 
people  thus  wished  for  the  holy  rites  to  be  administered  in 
their  own  chapels,  a  considerable  number  of  persons  in  the 
societies  were  for  retaining  inviolate  the  original  ideal  of 
union  and  communion  with  the  Church.  Among  these  lat- 
ter were  many  of  the  trustees,  who  now,  at  this  Conference 

*  Jackson's  Life  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Wesley.  That  the  clergy  of  our 
day  would  not  act  in  this  manner,  we  firmly  believe ;  but  the  clergy  of 
that  day  did,  and  the  consequences  are  abiding. 


166  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

of  1794,  assembled  in  imposing  strength,  to  bring  the 
preachers  to  decide  that  the  practice  of  administering  the 
sacraments  should  be  abrogated.  The  latter,  however,  de- 
clined to  do  violence  to  the  consciences  of  the  multitude  of 
the  members  who  were  in  favor  of  it.  In  this  view  Mr. 
Clarke,  Churchman  as  he  was,  perfectly  coincided.  And, 
from  what  appears  in  some  letters  of  his,  written  from  the 
Conference,  the  spirit  and  conduct  of  the  trustees  were  not 
marked  by  irrational  or  unchristian  obstinacy ;  and  though 
great  fears  had  been  entertained  about  a  schismatic  rupture 
in  the  Connection,  the  question  was  so  far  amicably  adjusted 
that  the  societies  who  requested  the  privilege  of  the  sacra- 
ments were  set  at  full  liberty  to  enjoy  them.  On  August 
2d,  he  writes  :  "  We  have  this  morning  an  answer  from  the 
trustees  to  our  answer  to  their  address.  They  rise  in  their 
demands.  A  committee  appointed  to  treat  with  them  to- 
day at  four  o'clock.  Mr.  Pawson  and  I  are  of  it. 

"August  3.  We  met  yesterday  at  three,  and  continued 
till  near  eight.  We  settled  matters  wonderfully  well,  and 
are  in  a  fair  train  for  restoring  peace,  even  in  London.  The 
privilege  granted  last  year  of  receiving  the  sacrament  where 
the  people  are  unanimous,  will,  I  believe,  be  very  little  ex- 
tended this  year. 

"  August  5.  We  are  still  in  peace,  but  the  sacramental 
and  ordination  matters  are  not  yet  finally  adjusted.  The 
sacrament  will  be  allowed  this  year  where  the  people  are 
unanimous  in  asking  for  it,  and  where  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  preserve  a  great  majority  of  the  society  without  it. 

"August  7.  All  is  peace  and  harmony, and  will  be  so.  In 
a  much  better  sense  than  the  Frenchmen  can,  we  may  say, 
The  Methodist  preachers  are  'One  and  Indivisible.'  No 
thanks  to  the  devil  and  his  partisans;  for  they  have  done 
all  they  could  to  disunite  us." 

"  The  Lichfield  business  has  been  brought  forward,  and  a 
vote  passed  that  none  of  its  propositions  should  be  brought 
forward  or  noticed.  As  things  go,  I  am  well  satisfied." 

This  last  sentence  refers  to  a  private  synod  of  some  of 


THE  CIRCUIT   MINISTER.  167 

the  ministers  held  in  the  city  of  Lichfield,  in  the  preceding 
April,  on  the  invitation  of  Dr.  Coke,  to  consult  on  the  best 
means  of  meeting  the  growing  wishes  of  the  societies  for 
the  full  ordinances  of  the  Christian  Church,  after  the  manner 
most  in  accordance  with  the  apostolic  constitutions  delivered 
in  the  New  Testament.  The  doctor,  who  had  already  offi- 
ciated hi  America  as  one  of  the  first  bishops  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  made  a  proposition  to  this  meeting,  as 
a  preliminary  to  a  similar  overture  to  the  coming  Confer- 
ence, that  the  Methodist  ministry  should  henceforward  com- 
prise the  three  orders  of  superintendents,  (bishops,)  pres- 
byters, and  deacons :  a  proposition  which  was  afterward  in 
some  good  degree  carried  out,  though  under  another  nomen- 
clature. At  that  time,  as  already  intimated,  it  fell  to  the 
ground. 

As  many  exaggerated  and  erroneous  accounts  have  been 
given  of  this  Lichfield  meeting,  I  will  here  give  Mr.  Clarke's 
own  notes  of  it,  taken  on  the  spot.  I  have  transcribed  them 
from  his  autograph  made  in  the  room  at  the  time. 

"MINUTES  OF  THE  MEETING  HELD  AT  LICHFIELD, 
APRIL  I'D,  1794. 

"  1.  A  PROMISE  of  secresy. 

"2.  All  the  company  except  Mr.  M.  promise  to  abide 
by  the  decisions  of  the  majority,  except  where  he  believes 
the  Bible  is  against  it,  or  his  conscience  cannot  approve  of  it. 

"  3.  We  will  make  no  avowed  separation  from  the  Church 
of  England. 

"  4.  The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  shall  be  admin- 
istered wherever  there  is  a  majority  of  the  society  who 
desire  it :  but  the  preachers  must  not  canvass  for  votes,  or 
do  anything  to  obtain  a  majority  which  may  lead  to  a  divi- 
sion or  strife ;  nor  should  the  Lord's  Supper  be  administered 
in  any  chapel  where  a  majority  of  the  trustees  are  against 
it,  except  a  fair  and  full  indemnification  be  afforded  them  for 
all  the  debt  for  which  they  are  responsible,  supposing  they 
require  such  indemnity. 


168  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

"  5.  That  there  be  an  order  of  superintendents,  appointed 
by  the  Conference. 

"  6.  That  all  the  preachers  who  shall  be  appointed  by 
the  Conference  shall  from  time  to  time  be  ordained  elders. 

"7.  That  the  preachers  when  admitted  into  full  connec- 
tion shall  receive  their  admission  by  being  ordained  deacons 
by  the  superintendents  appointed  by  the  Conference :  pro- 
vided, (1.)  That  no  preacher  at  present  on  probation,  or  in 
full  connection,  shall  be  under  an  obligation  to  submit  to 
ordination ;  (2.)  That  no  preacher  shall  receive  letters  of 
orders  till  he  have  been  ordained  an  elder. 

"  8.  That  the  superintendents  appointed  among  us  by  the 
Conference  be  annually  changed,  if  it  see  good. 

"9.  That  the  Connection  be  formed  into  seven  or  eight 
divisions. 

"  10.  That  each  superintendent  shall  visit  the  principal 
societies  in  his  division,  at  least  once  a  year.  That  he  shall 
have  authority  to  execute,  or  see  executed,  all  the  branches 
of  the  Methodist  discipline ;  and  to  determine,  after  having 
consulted  the  preachers  who  are  with  him,  in  all  cases  of 
difficulty,  till  the  Conference. 

"11.  That  the  superintendent  of  any  division,  where  he 
judges  himself  inadequate  to  determine  in  any  given  case, 
shall  have  authority  to  call  in  the  president  to  his  assist- 
ance ;  in  which  case  the  president  shall,  if  possible,  attend, 
and  shall  have  the  ultimate  determination  of  the  case  till 
the  next  Conference. 

"  12.  The  divisions  for  the  present: 

"LONDON:  Sussex,  Canterbury,  Godalming,  Norwich,  Yar- 
mouth, Diss,  St.  Ives,  Bury,  Colchester,  Lynn,  Walsing- 

ham,  Bedford,  Higham  Ferrers. 
"  (2.)  BRISTOL  :  Bath,  Portsmouth,  Sarurn,  Isles,  Bradford, 

Gloucester,  Taunton,  Collumpton,  Plymouth,  St.  Austell, 

Redruth,  Pen/an <•••. 

"(3.)  BIRMINGHAM:    Oxford,    Worcester,    Pembroke,    Gla- 
morgan, Brecon,  Wolverhampton,  Shrewsbury,  Burslem. 
"(4.)  MANCHESTER:  Macclesfield,  Leek,  Stock  port,  etc. 


THE   CIRCUIT   MINISTER.  169 

"  (5.)  SHEFFIELD  :  Nottingham,  Northampton,  Banbury,  etc. 
"(6.)  LEEDS.  (7.)  NEWCASTLE.  (8.)  SCOTLAND,  IRELAND, 

the  NORMAN  ISLES. 

"Proposed  Superintendents:  Dr.  Coke,  Dr.  Mather, 
Dr.  Pawson,  Dr.  Taylor,  Dr.  Moore,  Mr.  Hanby,  Mr. 
Bradburn. 

"  Persons  present :  T.  Coke,  Alex.  Mather,  Thos.  Taylor, 
John  Pawson,  Saml.  Bradburn,  Jas.  Rogers,  Henry  Moore, 
Adam  Clarke. 

"  The  whole  of  the  above  plan  to  be  laid  before  the  en- 
suing Conference,  to  be  adopted  or  rejected  as  they  may 
think  proper ;  but  those  present  agree  to  recommend  and 
support  it  as  a  thing  greatly  wanted,  and  likely  to  be  of 
much  advantage  to  the  work  of  God." 

To  return  to  more  personal  and  private  matters :  With 
his  superintendent,  Mr.  Pawson,  Mr.  Clarke  had  spent  two 
happy  years  at  Liverpool ;  and  he  had  formed  for  that  ex- 
cellent man  an  esteem  which  endured  with  his  life,  and  sur- 
vived his  decease.  In  the  letters  written  to  Mrs.  Clarke 
from  the  Bristol  Conference,  he  repeatedly  refers  to  their 
venerable  superintendent,  his  preaching,  and  his  health  :  for 
example,  "  Mr.  Pawson  is  pretty  well.  I  am  just  returned 
from  hearing  him  at  Portland  Chapel.  He  preached  an  ex- 
cellent sermon  indeed.  Most  of  the  preachers  think  him 
the  best  in  the  Conference.  I  keep  him  to  his  bark,  and 
hope  the  swelling  of  his  feet  will  not  increase." 

In  another :  "  I  take  care  twice  a  day  to  give  Mr.  Paw- 
son  wine  and  bark.  Let  Mrs.  P.  trust  him  to  me." 

And  again  :  "  I  keep  him  to  his  bark  and  wine,  twice  a 
day ;  and  though  he  growls  at  me  for  it,  I  never  mind  him. 
Tell  Mrs.  Pawson  she  has  nothing  to  fear."  These  expres- 
sions show  the  friendly  terms  on  which  these  two  good 
men  lived,  who  were  now  to  part.  Of  Mr.  Pawson,  as  the 
friend  of  Clarke,  we  shall  have  to  speak  again. 

In  the  review  of  his  residence  at  Liverpool,  Mr.  Clarke's 
mind  was  filled  with  tender  gratitude  to  the  Lord  and  giver 


170  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

of  life,  "  from  whom  all  holy  desires,  all  good  counsels,  and 
all  just  works  do  proceed,"  for  the  mercy  shown  him  in 
being  enabled  thus  to  employ  his  days  in  a  work  so  holy. 
"  Upon  the  very  commencement  of  my  preaching  in  Liver- 
pool," says  he,  "the  Lord  began  to  work.  Crowds  at- 
tended. Such  times  of  refreshing  from  his  presence  I  never 
saw.  Should  I  die  to-morrow,  I  shall  praise  God  to  all 
eternity  that  I  have  lived  to  the  present  time.  The  labor 
is  severe ;  nine  or  ten  times  a  week  we  have  to  preach. 
But  God  carries  on  his  own  work,  and  this  is  enough.  My 
soul  lies  at  his  feet.  He  has  graciously  renewed  and  en 
larged  my  commission.  All  is  happiness  and  prosperity. 
We  have  a  most  blessed  worl^;  numbers  are  added,  and 
multitudes  built  up  in  our  most  holy  faith.  Such  a  year  as 
this  I  never  knew ;  all  ranks  and  conditions  come  to  hear 
us.  The  presence  of  God  is  with  us ;  his  glory  dwells  in 
our  land,  and  the  shout  of  a  king  is  in  our  camp." 


BOOK   II.-MERIDIAJST. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE     PREACHER. 

"  THE  path  of  the  justis  as  the  shining  light,  which  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  This  beautiful  rep- 
resentation receives  one  example  of  its  truth  in  the  career  of 
the  subject  of  our  memoir.  He  arose  at  the  call  of  God, 
and  went  forth  on  a  pathway  of  progressive  brightness.  We 
have  seen  how  from  his  youth  he  looked  and  toiled  upward ; 
and  now,  the  discouragements  of  early  years  left  behind, 
like  the  sun  surmounting  the  morning  clouds  which  had 
threatened  to  obscure  its  light,  and  pouring  its  benefic  rays 
on  all  around,  the  man  of  God  comes  forth  to  the  view  of 
the  Church  and  the  world,  completely  furnished  for  his 
work,  to  shed  the  healing  beams  of  truth  upon  myriads  of 
minds.  Mr.  Clarke's  appointment  to  London,  in  1795, 
opens  a  new  era  in  his  life,  in  which  each  successive  year 
unfolded  attributes  of  heart  and  intellect  which  rendered 
him  an  object  of  confidence  and  admiration.  As  a  public 
instructor,  we  shall  find  him  both  from  the  pulpit  and  the 
press  serving  his  own  and  coming  generations,  according  to 
the  will  of  God.  If  ever  a  man  followed  out  a  course  in- 
tended for  him  by  Providence,  it  was  Adam  Clarke.  "  You 
will  find,"  says  Lord  Bolingbroke,  (and  here  for  once  he 
wrote  the  truth,)  "  you  will  find  there  are  superior  spirits 
who  can  show  even  from  their  infancy,  though  it  be  not 


172  LIFE   OF   ADAM  CLARKE. 

always  fully  perceived  by  others,  perhaps  not  always  felt 
by  themselves,  that  they  were  born  for  something  more  and 
better  ;  their  talents  denote  their  general  designation;  and 
the  opportunities  of  conforming  themselves  to  it,'  that  arise 
in  the  course  of  things,  or  that  are  presented  to  them  by 
any  circumstances  of  rank  or  situation  in  the  society  to 
which  they  belong,  denote  the  particular  vocation  which  it 
is  not  lawful  for  them  to  resist,  nor  even  to  neglect."  And 
that  is  most  emphatically  true  of  a  vocation  to  the  work  of 
the  evangelist.  A  man  who  receives  it,  and  disobeys  it, 
never  prospers.  Woe  is  unto  him  if  he  preach  not  the 
Gospel !  But  Clarke  was  faithful  to  the  heavenly  calling. 
Through  toil,  and  storm,  and  want,  as  well  as  sunshine  and 
competence,  like  John  the  Baptist  he  "  fulfilled  his  course," 
and,  like  Paul,  "  kept  the  faith,"  and  won  the  crown. 

As  a  preacher,  Mr.  Clarke  was  distinguished  by  his  origi- 
nality. With  a  mind  always  inclining  to  the  dialectical,  he 
thought  clearly,  and  on  most  subjects  reasoned  with  a  con- 
clusive force  which  the  most  obtuse  could  apprehend,  and 
the  most  sophisticated  was  constrained  to  acknowledge.  But 
though  a  thinker  on  his  own  account,  by  his  extensive  read- 
ing he  availed  himself  largely  of  the  thoughts  of  other  men, 
only  making  them  in  a  manner  his  own  by  processes  of  the 
mental  laboratory,  and  always  reproducing  them  with  the 
mint-mark  of  his  own  intellect,  and  in  combinations  which 
genius  only  is  able  to  form.  His  mind  thus  gave  back  an 
affluent  return  of  interest  upon  the  principal  for  which,  in 
any  amount,  he  was  indebted  to  others ;  and  that,  not  only 
in  the  ratio  of  quantity,  but  of  quality  as  well.  He  im- 
proved on  what  he  read,  and  worked  within  the  deep  re- 
cesses of  his  mind,  by  the  secret  of  an  alchemy  which  could 
transmute  baser  metals  into  gold.  Exercising  thus  the  fa- 
culties with  which  heaven  had  endowed  him,  he  did  not  de- 
pend on  factitious  aids,  but  gained  even  at  the  outset  a 
standing  among  those  nobler  intellects  who  think  for  them- 
selves, and  for  others  too.  He  remarks,  in  one  of  his  let- 
ters to  Mr.  Brackenbury  :  "  To  reduce  preaching  to  the  rules 


THE   PREACHER.  173 

of  science,  and  to  learn  the  art  of  it,  is  something  of  which 
my  soul  cannot  form  too  horrid  an  idea.  I  bless  Jesus 
Christ  I  have  never  learned  to  preach,  but  through  his  eter- 
nal mercy  I  am  taught  by  him  from  time  to  time  as  I  need 
instruction.  I  cannot  make  a  sermon  before  I  go  into  the 
pulpit ;  therefore  I  am  obliged  to  hang  upon  the  arm  and 
the  wisdom  of  the  Lord.  I  read  a  great  deal,  write  very 
little,  but  strive  to  study." 

All  the  way  through  his  long  career  he  was,  more  than 
most  men  of  the  pulpit,  an  extempore  preacher.  In  the 
course  of  his  life  he  wrote  many  sermons,  which  are  now 
extant  in  his  works  ;  but  the  greater  number  of  these  give 
but  an  inadequate  idea  of  his  style  and  manner  of  preaching. 
Some  of  them  were  written  designedly  for  the  press,  and 
may  be  considered  more  as  theological  treaiises  than  pulpit 
orations.  He  wrote  as  a  divine,  but  preached  as  an  apostle. 
Many  of  his  most  effective  pulpit  efforts  were  achieved  with 
no  previous  aid  from  the  pen.  The  Rev.  J.  B.  B.  Clarke, 
in  the  retrospect  he  has  published  of  his  father's  life,  says  : 
"  He  hardly  ever  wrote  a  line  as  a  preparation  for  preaching. 
I  have  now  in  my  possession  a  slip  of  paper,  about  three 
inches  long  by  one  wide,  containing  the  first  words  of  a  num- 
ber of  texts  ;  and  this  was  the  sole  list  of  memoranda  on 
which  he  preached  several  occasional  sermons  in  various 
parts  of  the  country." 

Once,  when  on  a  visit  at  Plymouth,  he  preached  for  two 
hours  on  the  great  question  in  Acts  xvi,  30,  "  What  must  I 
do  to  be  saved  ?"  Several  of  the  clergy  of  the  place  were 
present,  and  united  afterward  in  requesting  him  to  publish 
the  discourse ;  one  offering  to  take  a  hundred  copies  for  his 
congregation,  another  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  another  five 
hundred.  Yet  he  had  to  tell  them,  in  reply,  that  he  had 
"neither  outline  nor  notes  of  the  subject,  nor  any  time  to 
commit  the  discourse  to  writing." 

Such  a  habit  of  extempore  speaking  can  be  recommended 
to  the  imitation  of  but  few;  and  these  men  in  whom  more 
than  common  power  of  ready  and  correct  speech  is  added 


174  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

to  more  than  common  stores  of  knowledge.  But  it  enabled 
Dr.  Clarke  to  seize  upon  any  passing  incident  and  turn  it  to 
advantage,  or  to  shift  the  topic  of  discourse,  if  some  import- 
ant object  required  it,  without  inconvenience  to  •  himself. 
On  one  occasion,  after  he  had  preached  at  City  Road  Chapel, 
a  friend  remarked  to  him  :  "  I  could  not  but  observe  that  in 
the  sermon  you  seemed  suddenly  to  quit  the  subject  in 
hand,  and  fly  off  to  a  series  of  arguments  in  proof  of  the  Di- 
vinity of  our  Saviour,  with  which  your  previous  subject  was 
not  connected.  Had  you  any  reason  for  so  doing  ?"  "Yes," 
said  he ;  "I  observed  Dr.  K."  (a  celebrated  Unitarian) 
"  steal  into  the  back  part  of  the  chapel,  and,  after  a  few 
minutes,  plant  his  stick  firmly,  as  if  he  intended  to  hear  me 
out.  So,  by  God's  help  I  determined  to  bear  my  testimony 
to  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord,  trusting  that  he  would  touch  his 
heart,  and  give  him  another  opportunity  of  hearing  and 
receiving  the  truth." 

From  time  to  time  these  free  outgoings  of  his  soul  were 
attended  by  an  uncommon  influence,  "  the  demonstration 
and  power  of  the  Spirit."  In  his  letters  to  Mrs.  Clarke  he 
mentions  such  occasions,  not  in  a  temper  of  egotistic  boast- 
ing, but  with  a  devout  and  wondering  acknowledgment  of 
the  condescending  goodness  of  God  in  so  employing  him. 
For  example : 

"  I  was  obliged  to  preach  this  morning  at  Oldham-street. 
The  congregation  was  really  awful.  Perhaps  I  never 
preached  as  I  did  this  morning.  O  Mary,  I  had  the  king- 
dom of  God  opened  to  me,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled 
the  whole  place.  Toward  the  conclusion  the  cries  were 
great.  It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  I  could  get  the  peo- 
ple persuaded  to  leave  the  chapel.  Though  the  press  was 
immense,  yet  scarcely  one  seemed  willing  to  go  away,  and 
those  who  were  in  distress  were  unable  to  go.  Some  of  the 
preachers  went  and  prayed  with  them,  nor  rested  till  they 
\v  ere  healed.  God  has  done  a  mighty  work." 

.\L';iin,  from  Bristol  :  "I  am  this  instant  returned  from 
King-street.  The  chapel  crowded — crowded !  And  God  in 


THE   PREACHER.  175 

a  most  especial  manner  enabled  me  to  deliver  such  a  testi- 
mony, from  1  Thess.  i,  3,  as  I  think  I  never  before  delivered. 
I  did  feel  as  in  the  eternal  world,  having  all  things  beneath 
me,  with  such  expansions  of  mind  as  the  power  of  God 
alone  could  give.  I  was  about  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  am 
torn  up  for  the  day."  • 

Mr.  Clarke's  pulpit  ministrations  were  substantially  Bib- 
lical. He  preached  the  word.  Here  was  the  secret  of  his 
power.  He  brought  a  rule  to  bear  upon  the  conscience 
against  which  there  was  no  appeal.  His  congregations  were 
summoned  to  the  obedience  of  faith,  not  in  the  formulas  of 
creeds,  the  decrees  of  councils,  or  the  sentences  of  the  fathers, 
but  in  the  Scripture  which  cannot  be  broken.  He  "  read  in 
the  book  in  the  law  of  God,  distinctly,  and  gave  the  sense, 
and  caused  them  to  understand  the  reading."  In  the  "  true 
sayings"  penned  by  the  inspired  prophets  and  apostles,  he 
recognized  and  demonstrated  a  revelation  from  God  to 
man,  and,  as  such,  the  sole  canon  of  faith  and  morals. 
"  There  is  nothing  certain,"  he  used  to  say,  "  in  the  things 
which  belong  to  salvation,  but  the  plain  word  of  God ;  no 
safe  teacher  but  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  Spirit 
teaches  the  heart  what  the  word  teaches  the  understanding." 
His  habits  of  study  in  elaborating  his  Commentary  had  ren- 
dered him  master  of  the  entire  scope  and  contents  of  the 
sacred  volume,  and  contributed  to  give  his  ordinary  pulpit 
discourses  a  rich  expository  character.  All  his  learning  was 
brought  to  bear  on  this  blessed  duty — to  explain  the  words 
of  God.  that  he  might  bring  the  people  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  things  of  God.  What  was  said  respecting  a  prelate  of 
former  days  might  be  affirmed  of  this  eminent  preacher : 
"  He  unfolded  the  grandeur  of  a  prophecy,  or  the  comfort  of 
an  Epistle  :  and  alarmed  the  conscience,  or  bound  up  the 
wounded  heart.  He  brought  tidings  of  foreign  learning  to 
the  scholar,  of  discoveries  to  the  naturalist,  and  of  manners 
to  the  people."  Thus  he  won  the  ears  of  the  idle,  gave 
matter  for  reflection  to  the  thoughtful,  and  satisfaction  to 
the  inquisitive.  He  "  taught  in  Judah,  and  had  the  book  of 


176  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

the  law  of  the  Lord  with  him,  and  went  about  throughout 
all  the  cities  of  Judah,  and  taught  the  people.'' 

One  consequence  of  this  method  was  an  inexhaustible  va- 
riety in  his  preaching.  The  Bible  contains  a  universe  of 
truth ;  and  the  longest  life  of  man  becomes  momentary 
when  brought  to  the  task  of  unfolding  it.  We  have  heard 
of  a  German  professor  who  spent  years  in  a  course  of  lec- 
tures on  the  first  chapter  of  Isaiah,  and  died  without  com- 
pleting it ;  and  we  can  easily  conceive,  that  such  expository 
preachers  as  Owen  and  Matthew  Henry  would  review  their 
labors  with  dissatisfaction,  as  having  been  employed  too 
much.,  to  their  feeling,  on  the  surface,  without  having  pene- 
trated the  mysterious  depths  of  the  solemn,  solitary  volume 
which  riveted  the  gaze  of  their  lives.  Mr.  Clarke,  even  in 
the  earlier  years  of  his  ministry,  adopted  a  method  which 
insured  a  wide  range  of  Bible  subjects  for  the  pulpifc,  in 
preaching  from  the  Lesson,  Epistle,  or  Gospel  for  the  day : 
all  which  portions  of  the  holy  book  he  carefully  examined, 
marking  in  a  large  text-book  the  verses  which  drew  his 
special  attention  as  likely  to  afford  topics  of  public  address. 

A  preacher  commanding  such  an  amplitude  of  topics 
would  always  have  something  new.  And  therefore  it  was 
that  Mr.  Clarke's  hearers,  to  whatever  chapel  they  followed 
him,  very  seldom  listened  to  the  .same  discourse.  The  late 
Mr.  Buttress,  who  always  accompanied  him  when  Mr. 
Clarke  was  stationed  in  London,  affirmed,  that  he  never 
heard  him  preach  the  same  sermon  twi^e.  Reflecting  thus 
the  present  exercises  of  his  intellect,  his  discourses  had  a 
perpetual  freshness  ;  they  came  warm  from  the  living  heart, 
and  brought  life  and  warmth  to  the  heart  of  the  hearer. 
And  that,  especially,  because  they  brought  the  GOSPEL. 
We  have  said  he  was  a  Biblical  preacher,  in  the  truest 
sense,  ever  holding  forth  the  grand  evangelism  which  per- 
vades the  Bible,  as  its  soul  and  spirit;  namely,  that  "God 
so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that 
•whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  In  making  known  this  truth  in  all  its  sol- 


THE  PREACHER.  177 

emn  bearings  and  consequences,  he  was  remarkable  among 
the  ministers  of  his  day.  In  the  constellation  of  eminent 
preachers  who  moved  at  that  time  in  the  intellectual  sky, 
but  who  have  now  nearly  all  disappeared  from  our  sight, 
Mr.  Clarke  was  in  this  respect  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude. 
From  his  rising  to  his  setting  hour,  unnumbered  multitudes 
rejoiced  in  his  light  as  a  witness  and  guide  to  the  mercy 
which  could  save  them.  In  his  ministry  Christ  was  all  in 
all ;  the  alpha  and  omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end.  He 
essayed  to  unfold  the  entire  evangelic  revelation,  the  whole 
counsel  of  God  with  respect  to  the  way  of  salvation  by 
Jesus  Christ.  He  showed  the  sinner  his  mighty  need  of 
such  a  Saviour,  and  led  him  in  repentance  to  his  feet.  By 
him 

"  The  violated  law  spoke  out  its  thunders ; 
And  by  him,  in  strains  as  sweet  as  angels  use, 
The  Gospel  whisper'd  peace." 

"The  only  preaching,"  he  said  once,  in  a  letter  to  a 
brother  minister,  (and  the  maxim  had  its  embodiment  in 
his  own  practice,)  "the  only  preaching  worth  anything  in 
God's  account,  and  which  the  fire  will  not  burn  up,  is  that 
which  labors  to  convert  and  convince  the  sinner  of  his  sin ; 
to  bring  him  into  contrition  for  it ;  to  lead  him  to  the  blood 
of  the  covenant,  that  his  conscience  may  be  purged  from  its 
guilt ;  to  the  Spirit  of  judgment  and  burning,  that  he  may 
be  purified  from  its  infection ;  and  then  to  build  him  up  on 
this  most  holy  faith,  by  causing  him  to  pray  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  keep  himself  in  the  love  of  God,  looking  for  the 
mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life.  This  is 
the  system  pursued  by  the  apostles,  and  it  is  that  alone 
which  God  will  own  to  the  conversion  of  sinners.  I  speak 
from  experience.  This  is  the  most  likely  mode  to  produce 
the  active  soul  of  divinity,  while  the  body  is  little  else  than 
the  preacher's  creed.  Labor  to  bring  sinners  to  God, 
should  you  by  it  bring  yourself  to  the  grave." 

Again  to  another :  "  These  are  not  only  the  first  rudi- 
ments of  heavenly  teaching,  but  the  fullness  of  Divine  truth 


178  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

in  reference  to  salvation:  1.  Thou  art  a  sinner,  and  conse- 
quently wretched.  2.  God  is  an  eternal,  unfailing  Foun- 
tain of  love.  3.  He  has  given  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  to  die 
for  THEE.  4.  Believe  on  him,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  from 
thy  sins.  5.  When  saved,  continue  incessantly  dependent 
upon  him  ;  so  shalt  thou  continually  receive  out  of  his  full- 
ness grace  upon  grace,  and  be  ever  fitted  for,  ever  ready  to, 
and  ever  active  in,  every  good  word  and  every  good  work. 
This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  revelation  of  God ; 
and  O  how  worthy  it  is  of  his  infinite  goodness,  and  how 
suitable  to  the  nature  and  state  of  man!  These  are  the 
simple  lessons  which  I  am  endeavoring  to  learn  and  teach. 
This  is  the  science  in  which  I  should  be  willing  to  spend  the 
longest  life.  O  God !  simplify  my  heart." 

No  man,  since  the  apostle  St.  John,  seems  to  have  had 
more  large  and  soul-stirring  views  of  the  love  of  God  than 
Adam  Clarke.  Here  and  there  in  his  Commentary  the 
reader  will  find  some  bursts  of  feeling  on  this  grand  topic, 
which  will  give  an  idea  of  the  spirit  and  manner  of  the  man 
when  in  the  pulpit.  When  this  mighty  truth  began  to 
move  in  his  soul  he  became  irresistible.  The  first  time  I 
had  the  privilege  of  hearing  him  the  text  was,  "  God  was 
in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself.  .  .  .  Now 
then  we  are  embassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did 
beseech  you  by  us  ;  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye 
reconciled  to  God."  "  Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time ; 
behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation."  It  was  then  that  I 
witnessed,  and  felt  too,  how  this  man  could  master  and  con- 
trol the  entire  intellect  and  heart  of  a  great  congregation  by 
the  simple,  honest,  and  earnest  exhibition  of  the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints. 

Ille  reyit  dictis  animos,  etpectora,  mulcet. 

No  wonder  that,  with  this  victorious  scepter  of  truth,  the 
first  preachers  vanquished  the  world.  We  were  all  sub- 
dued ;  the  tears  of  repentance,  the  uplifted  eyes  of  prayer, 
the  swelling  emotion  of  triumphal  joy,  which  longed  to  give 
itself  utterance  in  one  loud  thunder  of  thanksgiving,  all 


THE  PREACHER.  179 

showed  how  powerful  is  the  uncorrupted  Gospel  when 
preached  aright.  What  I  then  witnessed  helps  me  to  un- 
derstand hfe  meaning,  when  on  one  occasion  he  said,  after 
preaching  :  "  I  would  not  have  missed  coming  to  this  place 
for  five  hundred  pounds.  I  got  my  own  soul  blessed,  and 
God  blessed  the  people.  I  felt,"  (stretching  out  his  arms, 
and  folding  them  to  his  breast,)  "  I  felt  that  I  was  drawing 
the  whole  congregation  to  me  closer  and  closer,  and  pulling 
them  away  from  the  world  to  God." 

In  expatiating  on  that  Divine  mercy  "  whose  height,  whose 
depth  unfathomed,  no  man  knows,"  Mr.  Clarke  found  end- 
less resources  for  the  conversion  and  comfort  of  the  soul 
and  heart.  "  The  love  of  God,"  he  was  wont  to  say,  "  will 
convert  more  sinners  than  all  the  fire  of  hell."  His  confi- 
dence in  the  efficacy  of  the  glad  tidings,  that  GOD  is  LOVE, 
was  unlimited,  and  lasting  as  his  life.  Thus  toward  the  end 
of  his  days,  in  conversation  with  his  dear  son  Joseph,  he 
said :  "  After  having  now  labored  with  a  clear  conscience  for 
the  space  of  fifty  years,  in  preaching  the  salvation  of  God 
through  Christ  to  thousands  of  souls,  I  can  say,  that  is  the 
most  successful  kind  of  preaching  which  exhibits  and  up- 
holds in  the  clearest  and  strongest  light  the  Divine  perfection 
and  mercy  of  the  infinitely  compassionate  and  holy  God  to 
fallen  man,  and  which  represents  him  alike  compassionate 
and  just.  Tell  then  your  hearers,  not  only  that  the  con- 
science must  be  sprinkled,  but  that  it  was  God  himself  who 
provided  the  Lamb." 

In  the  same  spirit  he  delighted  to  illustrate  the  pleasures 
and  advantages  of  a  life  devoted  to  the  service  of  a  recon- 
ciled God.  The  Rev.  Joseph  Clarke  has  given  a  good  de- 
scription of  his  father  in  the  pulpit,  which,  though  it  takes 
us  to  a  later  period  of  life,  we  quote  here,  to  render  our  idea 
of  Mr.  Clarke  as  a  preacher  as  complete  as  we  can :  "  The 
appearance  of  my  father,  and  his  effect  while  in  the  pulpit 
upon  a  stranger,  would  probably  be  something  like  this : 
He  [the  stranger]  would  see  a  person  of  no  particular 
mark,  except  that  time  had  turned  his  hair  to  silver,  and  tho 


180  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

calmness  of  fixed  devotion  gave  solemnity  to  his  appearance. 
He  spreads  his  Bible  before  him,  and,  opening  his  hymn- 
book,  reads  forth  in  a  clear  distinct  voice  a  few  verses,  after 
singing  of  which  he  offers  up  a  short  prayer,  which  is  im- 
mediately felt  to  be  addressed  to  the  Majesty  of  Heaven. 
The  text  is  proclaimed,  and  the  discourse  is  begun.  In 
simple  yet  forcible  language  he  gives  some  general  infor- 
mation connected  with  his  subject,  or  lays  down  some  gen- 
eral positions  drawn  from  either  the  text  or  its  dependen- 
cies. On  these  he  speaks  for  a  short  time,  fixing  the  atten- 
tion by  gaining  the  interest.  The  understanding  feels  that 
it  is  concerned.  A  clear  and  comprehensive  exposition 
gives  the  hearer  to  perceive  that  his  attention  will  be  re- 
warded by  an  increase  of  knowledge,  or  by  new  views  of 
old  truths,  or  previously  unknown  uses  of  ascertained 
points.  He  views  with  some  astonishment  the  perfect  col- 
lectedness  with  which  knowledge  is  brought  from  far,  and 
the  natural  yet  extensive  excursions  which  the  preacher 
makes  to  present  his  object  in  all  its  bearings,  laying  heaven 
and  earth,  nature  and  art,  science  and  reason,  under  contri- 
bution to  sustain  his  cause.  Now  his  interest  becomes 
deeper ;  for  he  sees  that  the  minister  is  beginning  to  con- 
dense his  strength,  that  he  is  calling  in  every  detached  sen- 
tence, and  that  every  apparently  miscellaneous  remark  was 
far  from  casual,  but  had  its  position  to  maintain,  and  its 
work  to  perform ;  and  he  continues  to  hear  with  that  rooted 
attention  which  is  created  by  the  importance  and  clearness 
of  the  truths  delivered,  by  the  increasing  energy  of  the 
speaker,  and  by  the  assurance  in  the  hearer's  own  mind 
that  what  is  spoken  is  believed  to  the  utmost  and  felt  in  its 
power.  The  discourse  proceeds  with  a  deeper  current  of 
fervor  ;  the  action  becomes  more  animated ;  the  certainty 
of  the  preacher's  own  mind,  and  the  feelings  of  his  heart,  are 
shown  by  the  firm  confidence  of  the  tone,  and  a  certain  full- 
ness of  the  voice  and  emphasis  of  manner  ;  the  whole  truth 
of  God  seems  laid  open  before  him  ;  and  the  soul,  thus  in- 
formed, feels  as  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  Lord." 


THE  PKEACHER.  181 

To  this  account  may  be  appended  a  few  lines  by  Mrs. 
Pawson,  all  the  more  appropriate  as  they  relate  to  the  time 
already  reached  in  our  biography.  This  lady,  the  wife  of 
his  venerable  colleague  at  Liverpool,  has  the  following 
memorandum  in  her  journal :  "  Brother  Clarke  is,  in  my 
estimation,  an  extraordinary  preacher ;  and  his  learning  con- 
fers great  luster  on  his  talents.  He  makes  it  subservient  to 
grace.  His  discourses  are  highly  evangelical.  He  never 
loses  sight  of  Christ.  In  regard  of  pardon  and  holiness,  he 
offers  a  present  salvation.  His  address  is  lively,  animated, 
and  very  encouraging  to  the  seekers  of  salvation.  In 
respect  to  the  unawakened,  it  may  indeed  be  said  that  he 
obeys  that  precept,  '  Cry  aloud,  spare  not,  lift  up  thy  voice 
like  a  trumpet.'  His  words  flow  spontaneously  from  the 
heart ;  his  views  enlarge  as  he  proceeds ;  and  he  brings  to 
the  mind  a  torrent  of  things  new  and  old.  While  he  is 
preaching  one  can  seldom  cast  an  eye  on  the  audience  with- 
out perceiving  a  melting  unction  resting  upon  them.  His 
speech  '  distills  as  the  dew,'  and  '  as  the  small  rain  upon  the 
tender  herb.'  He  generally  preaches  from  some  part  of 
the  lesson  for  the  day,  and  on  the  Sabbath  morning  from 
the  Gospel  for  the  day.  This  method  confers  an  abundant 
variety  on  his  ministry." 

The  end  and  aim  of  every  sermon  with  him  was  to  do 
good  there  and  then.  One  day,  as  he  entered  the  vestry 
at  City  Road  after  preaching,  a  friend  remarked,  "  What  an 
admirable  sermon  you  have  preached  to  us  this  morning, 
sir!"  "Brother,"  he  replied,  "Satan  whispered  that  to  me 
as  I  left  the  pulpit.  But  I  told  him  that  by  the  mischief 
alone  which  it  did  to  his  kingdom  God  would  judge  it.  I 
am  afraid  of  any  other  good  sermons  than  those.  It  is 
solemn  work  to  stand  up  between  the  living  and  the 
dead !" 

In  style  and  manner,  Mr.  Clarke's  discourses  derived  no 
advantage  from  artificial  rhetoric,  the  mellifluous  charms  of 
elocution,  or  the  little  embellishments  on  which  the  artist 
in  public  speaking  depends  so  much  for  his  popularity. 


182  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

The  harmony  of  cadences  or  the  aesthetic  grace  with  which 
the  orator  loves  to  group  his  thoughts  and  words  so  as  to 
win  the  ear,  and  charm  the  sense  of  music  in  the  soul,  were 
things  quite  out  of  his  line.  We  are  not  sure  whether  he 
was  endowed  with  that  kind  of  talent  more  than  in  a  medi- 
ocre degree ;  but  we  know  that  he  cared  nothing  about 
using  it.  Yet  the  absence  of  these  circumstantials  in  no 
way  interfered  with  the  universally  acknowledged  grandeur ' 
of  his  ministry.  The  Divine  Spirit  has  endowed  the  teach- 
ers of  the  world  with  a  variety  of  gifts.  He  who  wrought 
powerfully  in  St.  Peter  to  convince  the  Jew,  conferred  on 
St.  Paul  the  ability  to  persuade  the  Greek.  Among  the 
great  preachers  of  the  early  Church,  the  men  whose  minis- 
try shed  sunlight  on  the  ages  in  which  they  lived,  we  see 
gifts  many,  but  all  emanating  from  one  Spirit.  It  was 
grace  that  sanctified  their  natural  endowments,  and  made 
itself  visible  in  "  the  serious  and  careful  perspicuity  of 
Athanasius,"  in  Basil's  refined  and  graceful  sweetness,  in  the 
eloquence  which  flowed  from  the  lips  of  Chrysostom  like 
streams  of  liquid  gold,  in  the  self-possessed  dignity  of 
Cyprian,  the  power  with  which  Hilary  could  drape  his 
thoughts  in  tragic  pomp  and  glory,  or  the  vivid  meditations 
with  which  Ambrosius  could  pierce  the  soul,  "  as  with 
arrows  dipped  in  honey-dew."  So",  in  more  modern  times, 
the  thunder-storm  of  Luther,  and  the  placid  vigor  of 
Melancthon,  and  (why  not  say  it?)  the  ornate  clarity  of 
Massillon,  the  penetrating  unction  of  Fenelon,  and  the  im- 
posing grandeur  of  Bossuet,  all  betoken  his  still  merciful 
presence.  In  the  mighty  bursts  of  truth  from  Whitefield's 
lips,  or  the  tranquil,  sincere,  and  soul-commanding  evangel- 
isms  of  Wesley,  we  hear  his  awakening  voice.  Did  not 
he  who  clothes  the  lilies  with  their  beauty,  and  spans  the 
heavens  with  the  rainbow,  give  to  Chalmers  the  imagina- 
tion by  which  he  brought  visions  of  truth  before  men's 
minds  like  a  gorgeous  panorama;  and  enable  Robert  Hall 
to  show  us  the  river  of  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  pro- 
ceeding out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  1  Thus, 


THE   PREACHER.  183 

too,  in  the  pulpits  of  Methodism,  the  exuberant  pathos  of 
Bradburn,  the  searching  fire  of  Benson,  Richard  Watson's 
majesty  of  mind,  Robert  Newton's  bland  and  evangelic 
grace,  and  Jabez  Bunting's  unaffected  but  beautiful  and 
potent  oratory,  all  display  the  operations  of  that  same 
Spirit  who, 

"Plenteous  of  grace,  descends  from  high, 
Rich  in  his  sevenfold  energy," 

to  distribute  his  celestial  gifts  according  to  the  counsel  of 
his  own  will. 

The  servants  of  God,  having  these  faculties  differing  one 
from  another,  cannot  be  expected  every  one  to  resemble  his 
fellow ;  and  though  Adam  Clarke  may  not  be  said  to  have 
possessed  the  peculiar  character  of  any  of  the  men  we  have 
named,  yet  was  his  pulpit-ministry  distinguished  by  attri- 
butes which  set  him,  in  point  of  effectiveness,  on  a  level 
with  any  of  them,  the  apostles  excepted.  As  an  able  critic* 
says  of  Augustine,  in  comparison  with  some  other  of  the 
fathers,  "  he  had  less  of  beauty,  but  more  of  power,  than 
they."  In  Dr.  Clarke's  preaching  there  was  such  a  breadth 
and  depth  of  information,  such  strength  of  feeling  and  fixed- 
ness of  solemn  purpose  to  save  men's  souls  from  death, 
that  all  who  heard  him  knew  within  themselves  that  they 
were  face  to  face  with  a  messenger  from  God ;  and  while 
the  learned  and  the  illiterate  were  alike  brought  under  the 
same  spell,  and  earnestly  attended  to  the  words  spoken  by 
him,  he  so  rightly  divided  and  faithfully  applied  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  that  the  conscience  of  the  sinner  was  awakened, 
and  the  contrite  heart  comforted,  by  its  efficacy  working  in 
the  soul. 

His  preaching  had  all  the  more  heart  in  it  from  the  ex- 
perience which  he  himself  enjoyed  of  the  saving  power  of 
the  truth.  Why  did  the  hearers  feel  so  ?  It  was  because 
the  preacher  had  felt  first.  He  came  before  them  full- 
dressed  in  the  mantle  of  salvation,  with  his  lamp  burning. 
He  told  them  of  a  mercy  which  he  had  found,  and  which 
*  British  Quarterly  Review. 


184  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

they  must  seek,  or  perish.  He  told  them  of  a  Saviour 
who  would  be  presently  their  Judge. 

"  Before  Mm  came,  in  dread  array, 
The  pomp  of  that  tremendous  day 
When  Christ  with  clouds  shall  come ;" 

and,  with  the  awful  light  of  these  revelations  on  his  soul, 
he  persuaded  men  as  well  by  the  terrors  as  by  the  compas- 
sions of  the  Lord.  He  delighted,  as  we  have  said,  to  set 
forth  the  mercy  of  God;  but  it  was  done  in  such  a  way 
that  the  whole  sermon  was  at  once  a  warning  to  the  wicked, 
and  a  voice  of  consolation  to  the  repentant.  And  preaching 
as  he  did  under  the  conviction  that  this  life  is  the  only  span 
of  opportunity  for  the  evil  and  hell-condemned  to  obtain  re- 
mission and  renewal — that,  in  respect  to  some  of  his  hear- 
ers, life  was  verging  on  its  latest  hour,  and  that  on  the  very 
moment  then  present  hung  eternity  itself — he  so  preached 
that  the  truth  came  from  his  own  to  the  hearer's  heart ;  that 
attention  was  arrested,  feeling  excited ;  the  dreamer  awoke 
from  his  abstractions,  the  worldling  felt  the  power  of 
another  life,  the  infidel  insensibly  believed ;  of  the  reprobate, 
hovering  angels  said:  "Behold,  he  prayeth;"  at  Christ's 
omniscient  glance,  poor  backsliding  Peter  again  wept  bit- 
terly ;  and,  ravished  at  the  sight  of  a  Saviour  who  was 
dead  and  is  alive  again,  another  Thomas  exclaimed,  "  My 
Lord  and  my  God  !"  Thus  the  Gospel  came  not  in  word 
only,  but  in  power  and  assurance,  and  with  signs  of  salva- 
tion. Moses  struck  the  rock. 

In  presence  of  these  substantial  and  heart-satisfying  pow- 
ers, the  auditors  of  Clarke  forgot  the  want  of  artistic  accom- 
plishments which  have  contributed  to  make  the  modern 
pulpit  sometimes  attractive.  A  comparatively  homely 
manner,  and  a  voice  not  tuned  at  all  times  to  melodious 
cadences,  were  not  once  thought  of.  He  was  not  a  mere 
orator.  Ho  brought  strong  thoughts,  and  clothed  them  in 
honest  words,  as  a  means  to  an  end.  He  had  a  purpose, 
and  one  in  which  you,  as  his  hearer,  had  an  everlasting  in- 
terest. He  wanted  to  make  you  a  better  man ;  he  wanted 


THE  PREACHER.  185 

to  save  your  soul ;  and  to  do  this,  he  sought  to  lay  hold  on 
you  by  the  conscience.  The  ear  with  him  was  only  the  avenue 
to  the  heart.  Unless  a  man  has  this  purpose  and  aim,  it  is 
in  vain  that  he  draws  the  bow.  The  arrow  from  his  hand 
will  never  find  its  way  to  the  mark  ;  or,  should  it  chance  to 
do  so,  will  fall  without  effect,  like  the  shaft  that  Homer 
tells  of,  so  uselessly  launched  by  Priam  against  the  shield 
of  the  Grecian  hero  : 

"  This  said,  his  feeble  hand  a  javelin  threw, 
Which,  fluttering,  seeni'd  to  loiter  as  it  flew ; 
Just,  and  but  barely,  to  the  mark  it  held, 
And  faintly  tinkled  on  the  brazen  shield." 

But  Clarke  drew  not  the  bow  at  a  venture,  and  seldom 
without  success,  in  one  degree  or  another.  A  multitude  of 
sinners  were  converted  under  his  ministry ;  and  among 
them  not  a  few  who  have  themselves  been  made  instru- 
ments of  salvation  to  others. 

And  these  works  and  services  were  sustained  by  him  for 
half  a  century  of  time,  and  over  a  great  extent  of  area  in 
the  social  world.  Some  excellent  ministers  are  all  their 
lives  restricted  to  a  circumscribed  and  narrow  locality. 
They  pass  their  days,  by  the  ordination  of  Providence,  in 
comparative  obscurity,  witnessing  the  truth  but  to  a  few 
persons,  and  shining  as  lights  in  dark  and  unthought  of 
places.  But  this  man's  career  was  more  like  that  of  the 
sun  when  he  comes  forth  in  his  strength  to  bathe  a  hemi- 
sphere in  light.  He  went  literally  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land.  From  the  Norman  Isles  to  the  ultima 
Thule  of  the  storm-beaten  Zetlands,  he  revealed  the  glori- 
ous Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  The  English  nation,  one 
might  say,  knew  and  revered  him.  Men  in  high  places,  and 
men  of  low  degree,  in  crowded  cities  and  sequestered  ham- 
lets, alike  waited  for  his  coming,  and  welcomed  the  sound 
of  his  voice.  "How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  were 
the  feet  of  him  that  brought  good  tidings,  that  published 
peace ;  that  brought  good  tidings  of  good,  that  published 
salvation  ;  that  said  unto  Zion,  Thy  God  reigneth !" 


186  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

One  great  charm,  that  rendered  his  ministry  so  attractive, 
was  found  in  the  well-known  qualities  of  his  own  upright 
and  holy  life.  It  gives  one  a  sacred  and  edifying  satisfac- 
tion, to  remember  how  finely  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel 
which  he  preached  harmonized  with  his  personal  character. 
He  lived  the  Gospel.  His  doctrine  and  life,  coincident, 
proved  him  to  be  at  once  a  great  and  good  man.  His  life 
recommended  religion ;  and  was  itself  a  ceaseless  homily 
of  things  profitable  to  man,  and  pleasing  unto  God.  It  was 
a  life  not  only  unblemished  by  glaring  inconsistencies,  but 
adorned  by  practical  excellence  ;  and  I  believe  that  no  man 
could  have  used  the  words  of  St.  Paul  with  less  of  impro- 
priety than  he  :  "  Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever 
things  are  honest,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever 
things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever 
things  are  of  good  report ;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  and  if 
there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things.  Those  things, 
which  ye  have  both  learned,  and  received,  and  heard,  and 
seen  in  me,  do ;  and  the  God  of  peace  shall  be  with  you." 
In  this  respect  it  will  be  our  wisdom  to  imitate  him,  consid- 
ering the  end  of  his  conversation,  Jesus  the  First  and  the 
Last.  Christum  pectore,  Christum  ore,  Christum  opere, 
spirabat. 


THE  PASTOR.  187 


CHAPTER  IL 

I 

THE      PASTOR. 

THE  vocation  of  the  Christian  minister  binds  him  not 
only  to  labor  to  win  souls  by  preaching,  but  also  to  watch 
over  them  in  the  services  of  that  pastoral  office  which  the 
Lord  by  an  everlasting  ordinance  has  established  in  his 
Church.  In  the  discharge  of  this  solemn  duty  it  was  Mr. 
Clarke's  earnest  endeavor  to  approve  himself  faithful.  His 
care  was  to  feed  the  Church  of  God,  to  build  up  believers 
in  their  holy  faith,  to  strengthen  such  as  did  stand,  to  com- 
fort and  help  the  weak-hearted,  to  raise  up  the  fallen,  and 
to  restore  the  wanderer.  As  a  Methodist  pastor,  he 
conscientiously  administered  the  discipline  of  which  both 
himself  and  the  members  of  his  flock  had  alike  pledged  their 
acceptance.  He  considered  that  discipline  to  be  perfectly 
Scriptural  in  its  character,  and  directly  conducive  to  the  edi- 
fication and  perpetuity  of  the  Church.  In  the  circuits  in 
which  he  presided  as  superintendent,  the  peculiar  institu- 
tions of  Methodism  were  upheld  in  their  vigor  and  integrity. 
Class-meeting,  for  example,  which  has  afforded  to  so  many 
myriads  of  Christ's  disciples  a  delightful  means  of  brotherly 
fellowship,  mutual  improvement,  comfort  in  trouble,  and 
timely  help  in  necessity,  he  would  never  see  neglected  with- 
out inquiry,  and,  if  needful,  remonstrance  or  exhortation. 
The  value  he  set  on  this  means  of  grace  appears  in  the  fact, 
that  in  several  of  the  places  in  which  he  was  stationed,  in 
addition  to  those  official  visitations  of  the  classes  which 
devolved  on  him  as  a  minister,  he  would  have  his  name  on 
some  class-book  as  a  private  member,  and  meet  as  such,  as 
often  as  opportunity  served.  He  urged  the  Methodist  peo- 
ple to  make  much  of  this  peculiar  advantage  of  their  com- 


188  LIFE   OF    ADAM  CLARKE. 

munion.  and  sometimes  in  writing  a  letter  to  a  friend  would 
throw  in  a  memento  bearing  on  the  duty,  if  it  were  only  in 
the  simple  words  appended  as  a  postscript :  "  Mind  your 
class."  So,  in  a  letter  to  a  captain  in  the  navy,  a  Methodist, 
with  whom  he  had  formed  an  intimacy  at  Liverpool,  as  a 
member  of  the  Philological  Society  in  that  town,  he  says  : 
u  May  I  ask  how  you  get  on  in  your  CLASs-ical,  philological, 
and  princely  connections  1  Do  not  neglect  the  two  former, 
by  any  means  ;  and  let  the  first  have  the  first  claim.  We 
live,  my  friend,  in  a  miserable  world ;  but  we  may  live  well 
in  it,  if  we  look  to  God.  I  know  you  will  be  faithful  to  the 
trust  reposed  in  you  by  his  majesty ;  but  O !  be  also  faith- 
ful to  the  light  and  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Use 
every  means  of  grace,  and  glorify  God  in  all  things.  I 
long  after  my  class,  and  doubt  whether  any  one  will  let  me 
in  here.  I  am  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  people 
yet  to  raise  one  like  that  in  Liverpool."  This  last  remark 
refers  to  his  success  in  forming  a  class  in  Liverpool  of  en- 
tirely new  members.  At  the  close  of  the  first  meeting,  he 
laid  down  his  penny  (the  weekly  contribution)  on  the  table 
with,  "  There,  thank  God,  I  am  once  more  in  class." 

Thus,  to  another  friend :  "  What  a  mercy  it  is  that  you 
and  I  are  now  in  his  fold !  May  God  keep  us  both  steady ! 
Abide  in  him,  my  dear  friend,  that  when  he  shall  appear 
you  may  see  him  as  he  is.  Pray  much  in  private.  No  soul 
that  prays  much  in  private  ever  falls.  Read  the  blessed 
Book ;  let  his  testimonies  be  your  counselors,  and  the  sub- 
ject of  them  be  your  song  in  the  night.  Keep  closely  united 
to  God's  people.  Do  not  omit  one  class-meeting  even  in  the 
year,  if  you  can  possibly  avoid  it.  I  have  been  now  a  trav- 
eling preacher  upward  of  twenty-four  years,  and  yet  I  feel 
class-meeting  as  necessary  now  as  I  did  when  I  began.  You 
may  think  it  strange  to  hear  that  I  meet  regularly  once  a 
week,  and  have  done  so  for  years.  I  find  it  a  great  privi- 
lege to  forget  that  I  am  a  preacher,  and  come  with  a  simple 
heart  to  receive  instruction  from  my  leader." 

Again,  further  on  in  life,  to  a  brother  minister :  "  From 


THE   PASTOR.  189 

long  experience  I  know  the  propriety  of  Mr.  "Wesley's  ad- 
vice :  '  Establish  class-meetings  and  form  societies  wherever 
you  preach  and  have  attentive  hearers ;  for,  wherever  we 
have  preached  without  doing  so,  the  word  has  been  like  seed 
by  the  way-side.'  It  was  by  this  means  we  have  been 
enabled  to  establish  permanent  and  holy  Churches  over  the 
world.  Mr.  Wesley  saw  the  necessity  of  this  from  the  be- 
ginning. Mr.  Whitefield,  when  he  separated  from  Mr. 
Wesley,  did  not  follow  it.  What  was  the  consequence1? 
The  fruit  of  Mr.  Whitefield's  labor  died  with  himself.  Mr. 
Wesley's  remains  and  multiplies.  Did  Mr.  Whitefield  see 
his  error  ?  He  did,  but  not  till  it  was  too  late ;  his  people, 
being  long  unused  to  it,  would  not  come  under  this  disci- 
pline. Have  I  authority  to  say  so  1  I  have ;  and  you  shall 
have  it.  Forty  years  ago  I  traveled  in  the  Bradford  (Wilts.) 
circuit,  with  Mr.  John  Pool.  Himself  told  me  this.  Mr. 
P.  was  well  known  to  Mr.  Whitefield,  who,  having  met  him 
one  day,  accosted  him  in  the  following  manner : 

"  Whitefield.  Well,  John,  art  thou  still  a  Wesleyan  ? 

"Pool.  Yes,  sir.  I  thank  God  I  have  the  privilege  of  being 
in  connection  with  Mr.  Wesley,  and  one  of  his  preachers. 

"  W.  John,  thou  art  in  thy  right  place.  My  brother  Wes- 
ley acted  wisely ;  the  souls  that  were  awakened  under  his  min- 
istry he  joined  in  class,  and  thus  preserved  the  fruits  of  his 
labor.  This  I  neglected,  and  my  people  are  a  rope  of  sand." 

In  cases  of  habitual  neglect  of  meeting  in  class,  Mr.  Clarke 
hesitated  at  the  quarterly  visitation  to  give  the  accustomed 
ticket  as  the  token  of  membership.  During  his  residence 
in  Manchester  he  met  a  class  one  day,  when  a  wealthy  mem- 
ber who  never  came  sent  a  guinea  as  his  quarterly  contribu- 
tion. Mr.  Clarke,  on  looking  over  the  class-paper,  and  see- 
ing how  the  case  stood,  refused  the  money,  desiring  the 
leader  to  take  it  back  again,  and  requested  the  gentleman  to 
give  him,  Mr.  Clarke,  an  interview. 

As  a  superintendent,  he  superintended.  In  a  family,  a 
church,  a  kingdom,  there  must  be  a  head.  The  proper  ad- 
ministration of  the  aftairs  of  the  circuit  he  considered  a  moral 


190  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

duty  on  his  part ;  and  a  cheerful,  enlightened  acquiescence  in 
every  constitutional  arrangement  of  the  Church,  the  moral 
duty  of  members,  leaders,  local  preachers,  and  the  other 
members  of  the  official  staff  of  a  circuit.  In  one  place  the 
local  preachers  demurred  to  his  exclusive  authority  to  make 
the  plan,  and  fix  their  appointments.  To  show  them  by  a 
practical  experiment  that  it  was  best  for  the  superintendent 
to  have  that  power,  he  even  let  them  for  a  time  or  two  ar- 
range their  own  appointments.  "  Take  and  make  out  a  plan 
for  yourselves,"  said  he,  "  and  bring  it  to  me,  and  I  will  in- 
corporate the  traveling  preachers  with  it."  They  did  so, 
after  much  altercation  among  themselves ;  for  they  could 
not  agree.  "  We  soon  had  loud  complaints  from  different 
parts  of  the  circuit ;  for  those  who  were  the  least  fit  for  cer- 
tain places  would  go  there.  The  next  plan  I  gave  them  as 
before,  and  with  great  difficulty  they  planned  themselves 
again ;  and  then  the  complaints  from  the  circuit  became 
louder  and  louder.  The  most  pious  and  sensible  of  the 
local  preachers  saw  and  heard  this.  With  the  third  plan 
they  refused  to  have  anything  to  do,  and  confidence  was 
restored." 

Mr.  Clarke  wished  to  see  the  various  offices  of  the  Church 
filled  by  men  whose  religious  qualifications  would  uphold 
their  moral  influence,  and  effectively  carry  out  the  purposes 
for  which  they  had  been  established.  A  steward  in  a  certain 
town  had  a  commercial  partner,  who  had  acted  in  a  dishonor 
able  manner.  This  conduct  became  a  topic  of  conversation 
at  the  leaders'  meeting,  at  which  Mr.  Clarke  presided.  The 
officer,  by  some  remarks,  intimated  that  he  sided  with  his 
partner  in  what  he  had  done.  "  Then,"  said  Mr.  Clarke, 
"give  up  thy  stewardship;  for  thou  mayest  be  no  longer 
steward."  Reflection  led  this  gentleman  to  see  that  he  had 
been  wrong,  and  that  his  pastor  had  acted  rightly.  He  had 
greatness  of  mind  enough  to  acknowledge  it,  and  was  at 
once  reinstated. 

Our  worthy  pastor  inculcated  the  most  inflexible  principles 
on  the  subject  of  commercial  integrity.  In  preaching  one 


THE   PASTOR.  191 

Sunday  morning  at  the  old  chapel  at  Spitalfields,  on  the 
fifteenth  Psalm,  he  laid  great  stress  on  the  relative  duties 
there  laid  down  for  the  guidance  of  men  of  business.  An 
eminent  merchant  who  had  heard  the  sermon  overtook  him 
on  the  way  home,  and  observed :  "  Mr.  Clarke,  if  what  you 
have  said  to-day  in  the  pulpit  be  necessary  between  man 
and  man,  I  fear  few  commercial  men  will  be  saved."  "  I 
cannot  help  that,  sir,"  replied  he ;  "I  may  not  bring  down 
the  requirements  of  infinite  justice  to  suit  the  selfish  chicanery 
of  any  set  of  men  whatever.  It  is  God's  law,  and  by  it  he 
will  himself  judge  man  at  the  last  day." 

But  while  thus  resolute  and  unbending  in  maintaining  the 
high  moralities  of  Christian  discipline  in  the  Church,  he  was 
full  of  tenderness  for  the  weak  and  afflicted,  whether  in  body 
or  mind,  and  knew  how  to  blend  the  gravity  of  the  pastor 
with  the  gentle  love  of  a  father  and  a  friend.  Here  is  a 
glimpse  of  him  in  the  class-room,  as  given  us  by  his  daughter 
in  one  of  her  piously  recorded  recollections :  "  My  father 
had  been  preaching  at  Chandler-street,  (now  Hinde-street,) 
and  after  service  had  a  class  to  meet.  I  accompanied  him 
on  that  occasion,  and  was  permitted  to  sit  by  him.  Address- 
ing one  present,  he  said :  '  You,  my  sister,  can  speak  good  of 
the  Lord.  You  have  long  known  that  he  is  gracious.'  She 
burst  into  tears,  and  said,  '  O  yes,  sir  ;  but  I  have  been  most 
unfaithful,  and  my  mind  has  been  brought  into  great  heavi- 
ness ;  during  my  daughter's  late  illness,  I  would  not  give 
her  up.'  '  And  did  your  daughter  die  V  '  No,  sir ;  she  was 
spared  to  me.'  '  Look  up,  my  sister,  and  learn  this  lesson  : 
God  never  wastes  his  grace  by  giving  more  than  is  needed. 
Had  he  purposed  to  take  your  daughter,  he  would  have  be- 
stowed upon  you  the  gift  of  resignation  to  meet  the  trial.'  "* 

To  another,  who  was  in  affliction,  he  said :  "  The  cloud  will 
be  dispersed  by  and  by ;  though  affliction  endureth  for  a 
night,  joy  cometh  in  the  morning.  God  will  not  always 
afflict :  remember  his  son  Jesus  Christ,  and  fear  not.  In  all 
your  afflictions  he  was  afflicted ;  and  he  still  sympathizes 
*  MS.  inciuoraiidutn  bv  Mrs.  R.  Smith. 


192  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

with  you.  Often  have  I  preached  this  doctrine  to  you ;  and 
now  that  you  need  it  most,  receive  it  heartily.  He  is  the 
same  God,  willing  to  help,  mighty  to  save.  Put  his  friend- 
ship to  the  test,  and  you  will  find  him  all  you  want,  and  all 
you  wish." 

In  the  department  of  pastoral  duty  which  relates  to  visit- 
ing from  house  to  house,  Mr.  Clarke  could  not  fully  gratify 
the  wishes  of  his  heart.  This,  indeed,  is  true  of  the  great 
majority  of  his  brethren.  There  may  be  from  a  thousand 
to  two  thousand  members  under  the  care  of  two  or  three 
ministers,  who  are  constantly  engaged  in  the  public  duties 
they  owe  to  a  number  of  congregations  spread  over  an  area 
of  many  miles.  Then,  again,  the  connectional  interests  of 
the  body  make  large  demands  on  their  time,  involving,  in 
cities  and  large  towns,  frequent  attendance  on  committees, 
whose  activity  is  necessary  to  the  effective  working,  and 
even  the  existence,  of  several  institutions  of  charity  and  re- 
ligion.; while  the  pecuniary  support  of  those  institutions 
frequently  requires  them  to  give  up  two  or  three  days  to- 
gether in  journeys  to  other  circuits  to  preach  and  speak  at 
public  meetings.  There  is  also  a  necessity,  in  order  to  keep 
pace  with  the  enlightenment  of  the  age,  and  to  maintain  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  the  public  in  the  office  of  a  teacher, 
that  the  minister  should  spend  some  few  hours  a  day  in  his 
own  study.  Then  it  must  be  remembered,  that  social  visits 
are  to  be  accomplished  either  by  day  or  in  the  evening. 
But  in  the  hours  of  the  day,  while  the  people  are  engaged 
in  their  business  or  labor,  a  visit  becomes  an  intrusion ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  in  the  evening,  when  families  have  more 
l"isure  to  receive  visits,  the  minister  is  at  work  in  his  cir- 
cuit ;  for  most  of  us  preach  or  hold  meetings  every  evening 
in  the  week.  It  is  not  with  us,  as  with  the  parochial  clergy- 
man or  the  Dissenting  minister,  that,  time  being  secured  for 
the  Sunday  sermons  and  the  one  week-day  lecture,  several 
evenings  in  the  week  may  be  made  available  for  visiting. 
We  are  so  employed  that  it  becomes  physically  impossible 
for  us  to  gratify,  according  to  our  earnest  desire,  the  social 


THE  PASTOR.  193 

tendencies.  Yet  it  must  not  be  supposed,  on  these  grounds, 
that  the  Methodist  people  are  without  pastoral  care ;  on  the 
contrary,  no  religious  communion  is  so  richly  supplied  with 
the  means  for  the  enjoyment  of  that  privilege.  Not  to  speak 
of  society  meetings,  in  which  the  flock  and  the  shepherd 
unite  for  intercourse  and  prayer — or  of  the  weekly  class- 
meeting,  in  which  the  concerns  of  the  soul  occupy  the  solemn 
transactions  of  the  hour — in  the  visitation  of  the  classes  by 
the  ministers  at  the  renewal  of  the  tickets,  we  believe  there 
is  more  direct  communication  between  the  pastor  and  the 
member  on  the  interests  of  the  spiritual  life,  than  would  be 
had  in  twenty  occasions  in  which,  from  the  presence  of  other 
persons,  (some  of  whom  it  may  be,  are  opposed  or  indiffer- 
ent to  religious  things,)  the  conversation  takes  a  more  gen- 
eral character.  In  a  word,  so  far  as  mere  gossiping  visits 
are  concerned,  the  preachers  have,  or  ought  to  have,  but 
very  little  time.  Some  of  them  very  properly  avail  them- 
selves of  the  hour  of"  tea-time  "  to  exchange  words  of  friend- 
ship with  a  family,  and  to  offer  such  instruction  as  the  oppor- 
tunity may  afford ;  but  Mr.  Clarke  had  (as  we  think,  unfor- 
tunately) disqualified  himself  for  this  social  enjoyment,  by 
renouncing  the  use  of  tea,  partly  from  a  notion  that  the  leaf 
itself  was  injurious  to  health,  but  more  especially  for  the 
sake  of  employing  the  time  which  others  spent  at  the  tea- 
table  in  the  prosecution  of  his  studies.* 

*  But  here  let  him  speak  for  himself.  In  his  well-known  "Letter  to  a 
Preacher"  he  thus  writes :  "  Shun  tea-drinking  parties ;  these  in  general 
murder  time,  and  can  answer  no  good  purpose,  either  to  your  body  or 
soul.  If  yon  go  out  in  this  way  at  any  time,  let  it  be  only  where  yon 
have  reason  to  believe  your  visit  is  likely  to  be  useful  to  the  souls  of  the 
people  ;  but  it  is  not  very  likely  to  be  so  where  there  is  a  large  party. 
Several  years  ago  I  met  with  Mr.  Wesley's  Letter  on  Tea,  read  it,  and 
resolved  from  that  hour  to  drink  no  more  of  the  juice  of  that  herb,  till  I 
oould  answer  his  arguments  and  objections.  I  have  seen  the  tract  but 
once  since,  yet  from  that  day  till  now  I  have  not  taken  a  cup  of  tea  or 
coffee ;  for  these  things  I  have  mostly  found  a  substitute  at  the  breakfast 
table,  and  in  the  afternoon  I  take  nothing.  By  this  line  of  conduct  I  can 
demonstrate  that  I  have  actually  saved  several  years  of  time,  which  other- 
wise must  have  been  irrecoverably  lost." 

Not  altogether  lost.  We  cannot  admit  that.  It  may  be  remarked  that 
13 


194:  LIFE  OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

And  this  reminds  us  that,  in  Mr.  Clarke's  case,  it  must 
be  taken  into  account  that  he  was  called  of  God  to  a  life  at 
once  more  public,  and  yet  more  sequestered  in  many  of  its 
hours,  than  that  of  many  of  his  brethren.  It  was  his  voca- 
tion not  only  to  teach  with  the  living  voice,  but  through  the 
medium  of  the  press ;  and  the  hours  spent  by  him  in  earn- 
est, laborious,  and  life-consuming  studies,  have  given  forth 
their  results  in  those  voluminous  and  imperishable  works 
by  which,  though  dead,  he  yet  speaks,  and  will  continue  to 
be  the  instructor  of  distant  generations.  When  we  survey 
the  massive  labors  of  his  pen,  and  call  to  mind  the  active 
and  energetic  character  of  his  oral  ministry,  the  wonder  is 
how  he  could  accomplish  all  this ;  and  that  wonder  increases 
when  we  see  that  in  the  general  routine  of  pastoral  business 
he  would  not  permit  himself  to  be  behind  his  colleagues. 

Though  he  had  no  relish  for  gossip,  and  was  intolerant  of 
the  waste  of  time,  yet  in  visiting  the  sick  and  afflicted  of  his 
flock  he  was  among  the  foremost.  He  adhered  to  the  letter 
of  the  "Twelve  Rules"  to  which,  as  a  preacher,  he  had 
pledged  his  obedience,  desiring  "  never  to  be  unemployed," 
and  "  always  to  go  to  those  who  wanted  him  most."  Had 
he  then  time  for  some  visits  ?  He  would  hasten  to  the 
house  of  mourning  rather  than  to  that  of  festivity,  and  with 
the  poor  and  the  needy  he  would  share  his  last  sixpence.  It 
was  his  care  to  do  good  as  well  to  the  body  as  to  the  soul. 
His  knowledge  of  medicine  enabled  him  to  give  gratuitous 
relief  to  many  a  sufferer.  While  in  Dublin  he  attended 
the  lectures  on  Anatomy  and  Materia  Medica,  which  supple- 
mented a  large  amount  of  knowledge  he  had  acquired  of 
the  healing  art  by  extensive  reading  and  observation ;  and 
all  this  he  turned  to  account  in  many  a  chamber  where  dis- 
ease and  poverty  were  the  joint  inmates.  In  cases,  how- 
ever, of  a  critical  nature,  he  sought  aid  for  the  sick  poor 
from  professional  men,  of  whom  there  were  many  in  the  cir- 

Mr.  Wesley  saw  the  nullity  of  his  own  scruples,  and  returned  to  the  use 
of  tea.  But  Mr.  Clarke,  implicit  disciple  as  he  was  of  Mr.  Wesley,  did 
not  follow  his  example  here. 


THE  PASTOR.  195 

cle  of  his  own  friends.  At  Manchester  and  other  places  he 
became  acquainted  in  this  way  with  most  of  the  faculty.  In 
the  former  city  Dr.  Eason  was  much  attached  to  him.  He 
told  Mr.  Clarke  that  he  liked  to  attend  the  Methodist  peo- 
ple in  their  last  hours  ;  "  they  died  so  peacefully."  From 
what  I  have  read  in  manuscript  letters,  written  in  later 
years  by  the  subject  of  our  memoir,  that  eminent  physician 
himself  found  unspeakable  benefit  to  his  own  soul  from  the 
intercourse  to  which  allusion  has  just  been  made. 

Mr.  Clarke  was  once  sent  for  by  a  person  in  dying  cir- 
cumstances, who  proved  to  be  a  gentleman  who  had  been 
awakened  under  a  sermon  of  his  some  time  before,  and  who, 
though  then  in  much  penitential  trouble,  had  not  yet  found 
rest  for  his  soul.  The  minister  heard  the  recital  of  his 
anxieties,  and  formed  so  good  an  opinion  of  his  case  as  to 
wonder  that  he  had  not  already  received  some  comforting 
token  of  the  Lord's  forgiving  grace.  In  giving  such  coun- 
sel as  he  thought  to  be  required,  he  intimated  to  the  gentle- 
man a  surmise  that  there  was  some  important  act  of  duty 
from  him  to  God  or  man  which  he  was  knowingly  neglect- 
ing. Whereupon  the  dying  man  related  that,  in  sailing 
some  years  before  from  a  foreign  port  to  England,  he  had 
by  way  of  frolic  secreted  a  small  bag  of  dollars  which  had 
been  committed  to  the  captain's  care,  but  which  had  been 
carelessly  allowed  to  lie  day  after  day  upon  the  locker.  At 
the  end  of  the  voyage,  the  captain  making  no  inquiries  for 
the  bag,  it  was  still  detained,  and  several  months  elapsed 
before  anything  was  heard  concerning  it.  At  length  the 
parties  for  whom  the  money  was  designed,  having  received 
notice  of  the  fact,  applied  to  the  captain,  who  candidly 
acknowledged  that  he  took  it  on  board,  but  added  that  he 
could  give  no  further  account  of  it.  By  this  time  the  person 
in  whose  hands  it  was  became  alarmed,  and  was  ashamed 
ijo  confess,  lest  his  character  should  suffer ;  and  so  he  hid 
the  property.  The  poor  captain  was  sued  for  the  amount, 
and,  having  nothing  to  pay,  was  thrown  into  prison,  where, 
after  languishing  for  two  years,  he  died.  The  guilty  person 


196  LIFE  OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

now  strove  to  banish  all  thought  of  the  misery  which  he  had 
occasioned,  and  to  drown  the  voice  of  conscience  by  busi- 
ness and  amusement.  But  it  was  all  in  vain ;  and,  espe- 
cially from  the  time  when  he  heard  Mr.  Clarke  preach,  he 
had  suffered  great  disquietude  of  mind.  He  had  agonized 
at  the  throne  of  mercy  for  pardon,  but  he  could  obtain  no 
answer,  and  he  feared  he  must  go  down  to  the  grave  unpar- 
doned,  unsaved.  The  minister  inculcated  the  necessity  of 
restitution.  The  sum,  with  compound  interest,  was  paid  to 
the  widow  of  the  captain.  The  poor  man  thereupon  found 
tranquility  of  mind,  and  expired  at  length  in  the  enjoyment 
of  the  mercy  of  God. 

Wherever  Mr.  Clarke  found  genuine  piety,  it  had  an  at- 
tractive charm,  which  drew  his  steps  again  and  again  to  the 
humblest  abode.  He  had,  in  fact,  some  of  his  chief  favor- 
ites among  the  truly  religious  poor.  In  visiting  the  simple- 
hearted  members  of  his  flock  Mr.  Clarke  made  himself  at 
home  with  them,  entered  into  their  affairs,  and  showed  them 
that  he  could  not  only  understand  their  joys  and  sorrows, 
but  feel  with  them.  He  liked  also  to  eat  a  mouthful  of 
their  food,  as  a  token  of  friendship.  "  I  always  eat  with 
people,"  said  he,  "  either  breaking  a  piece  from  off  a  biscuit 
or  cutting  a  crust  from  a  loaf,  to  show  them  that  I  am  dis- 
posed to  feel  at  home  among  them ;  for,  even  if  they  are 
very  poor,  there  are  many  ways  of  returning  the  kindness 
without  wounding  the  feelings  of  the  party  by  whom  the 
hospitable  disposition  is  manifested."  So  he  has  been 
known  to  eat  two  or  three  potatoes  in  a  cottage,  and  give  a 
shilling  pleasantly  for  each  one  of  them.  His  visits  were 
designedly  short.  He  was  aware  that  a  lengthened  stay 
might  inconvenience  the  family,  and  spoil  the  good  effect  of 
the  interview.  He  did  not,  therefore,  as  he  once  termed  it, 
"  make  a  dose  of  himself  where  he  went,"  or  turn  what 
he  wished  to  be  an  agreeable  visit  into  a  disagreeable 
visitation. 

But  in  the  genial  friend  he  never  forgot  the  pastor,  but 
reproved,  exhorted,  gave  counsel,  and  offered  consolation,  as 


THE  PASTOR.  197 

the  case  demanded ;  while  among  intelligent  young  people 
he  would  bring  out  of  the  stores  of  his  classical  and  east- 
ern reading  an  example,  an  anecdote,  or  an  illustration, 
which  gave  additional  interest  and  force  to  the  precept  he 
wished  to  inculcate.  Thus  : 

THE  DIVINE  MEECY  OUK  ONLY  REFUGE. 
IT  was  once  demanded  of  the  fourth  calif,  Aalee :  "  If 
the  canopy  of  heaven  were  a  bow,  and  the  earth  were  the 
cord  thereof;  if  calamities  were  arrows,  and  mankind  were 
the  mark  for  them ;  and  if  Almighty  God,  the  tremendous 
and  glorious,  were  the  unerring  archer ;  to  whom  could  the 
sons  of  Adam  flee  for  protection?"  The  calif  answered 
saying,  "  The  sons  of  Adam  must  flee  unto  the  Lord." 

THE  HASTY  SHOULD  GIVE  THEMSELVES  TIME. 

THE  philosopher  Athenodorus,  who  had  long  resided  in 
the  court  of  Augustus,  petitioned  the  emperor  to  allow  him 
at  length  to  retire  to  some  quiet  retreat,  where  he  might 
end  his  days  in  solitude  and  peace.  The  request  was 
granted,  and  on  taking  leave  of  the  emperor  he  ventured 
to  give  his  sovereign  the  following  precept :  "  Caesar !  I 
have  an  advice  to  give  thee :  Whensoever  thou  art  angry, 
take  heed  that  thou  never  say  or  do  anything  until  thou 
hast  distinctly  repeated  to  thyself  the  twenty-five  letters 
of  the  alphabet."  "  Athenodorus !"  exclaimed  the  emperor, 
seizing  his  hand,  "  thou  must  not  leave  me ;  I  have  still 
need  of  thee." 

CORRUPTING  BOOKS. 

REFERENCE  being  made  to  a  work,  the  general  tendency 
of  which  was  bad,  though  it  contained  many  well  written 
and  brilliant  passages,  and  one  of  these  being  quoted  with 
admiration,  Mr.  Clarke  said  :  "  The  Persian  poet  Hafiz  bor- 
rowed the  first  couplet  of  his  Divan  from  an  Arabic  poet 
of  disreputable  morals.  His  friends  wondered  at  it,  and 
some  remonstrated.  Hafiz  vindicated  himself  by  saying 
that  the  lines  contained  a  fine  sentiment;  to  which  one  of 


198  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

the  objectors  replied:  'The   lion  would   disgrace  himself 
were  he  to  snatch  a  bone  from  the  mouth  of  a  dog !'  " 

Mr.  Clarke  urged  upon  his  people  the  necessity  of  a 
thorough  conversion,  and  a  constant  effort  for  moral  im- 
provement ;  of  all  that  is  implied  in  working  out  our  sal- 
vation, while  God  works  within  to  will  and  to  do.  "  Re- 
member," he  would  say,  "  that  the  power  that  cleanses  is 
needed  to  keep  us  clean.  It  is  by  Christ  dwelling  in  our 
hearts  by  faith  that  we  are  preserved  in  holiness ;  and  he 
dwells  in  the  heart  of  those  only  who  are  lovingly  obedient 
to  his  voice.  Obedience  to  the  will  of  God  is  the  very 
element  in  which  the  Christian  should  live.  Seek  out  his 
commandments  till  you  find  none  left ;  seek  to  do  them  at 
all  times,  and  in  all  places.  How  blessed  to  do  this !" 
"  You  tell  me,"  said  he  to  one,  "  that  God  has  opened  your 
eyes  ;  can  you  tell  me  that  he  is  keeping  them  open  ?"  So, 
not  only  as  when  present,  but  when  absent  also,  he  bore  in 
mind  those  whom  he  had  once  served  in  the  Gospel.  Some 
of  his  letters  are  thoroughly  pastoral.  Here  is  an  extract 
from  one,  written  to  a  lady  who  was  mourning  the  loss  of 
her  husband : 

"  I  am  well  aware  that  grief  like  yours  can  be  alleviated 
by  God  alone ;  but  it  must  increase  the  distress  of  your 
situation  to  find  a  former  friend  careless  or  unaffected. 
God  condescended  to  make  me  a  messenger  of  peace  to 
your  dear  husband ;  and  how  much  I  loved  him,  you,  and 
every  branch  of  your  family,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  tell. 
My  love  was  such  that  your  joys  overjoyed  me,  and  all 
your  troubles  deeply  affected  me.  ...  If  it  be  now  impossi- 
ble for  me  to  comfort  you,  it  is  as  much  so  for  me  not  to 
sympathize  with  you.  .  .  .  But  the  good,  the  merciful  God 
needs  no  entreaty  to  come  in  to  your  assistance.  He  is 
the  Fountain  of  endless  love.  He  knows  what  he  has 
called  you  to  pass  through ;  and,  as  he  has  ordained  the 
trial,  so  has  he  the  measure  of  strength  necessary  to  sup- 
port you  under  it.  Yes,  my  dear  sister,  he  loves  you,  and 


THE  PASTOR.  199 

will  never  leave  you,  no,  never  forsake  you.  .  .  .  He  spared 
your  dear  husband,  that  he  might  know  his  name  and  re- 
ceive his  salvation ;  and  then,  perceiving  the  evil  that  was 
in  his  way,  and  perhaps  would  have  proved  his  ruin,  he 
has  taken  him  to  himself  from  the  evil  to  come.  This  we 
are  always  authorized  to  say  in  such  cases,  as  we  are  fully 
assured  God  does  all  things  well,  and  never  willingly  af- 
flicts the  children  of  men.  .  .  .  And  what  a  wonderful  and 
encouraging  saying  is  this :  '  Thy  Maker  is  thy  husband !' 
and  he  is  thy  husband's  God.  Then,  my  sister,  if  you  can- 
not as  yet  rejoice,  you  can  submit  to  his  will,  and  confide 
in  his  mercy,  knowing  that  this  also,  distressing  as  it  is, 
will  work  for  your  good..  .  .  . 

"  A  few  days  ago  I  was  called  to  visit  a  family  in  distress. 
One  child  was  dead,  the  father  was  just  put  into  his  coffin, 
and  the  mother  expired  a  few  moments  after  I  went  in. 
Things  are  never  so  ill,  but  they  might  be  worse.  May 
your  father's  God,  and  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  be  your  comfort  and  support,  and  save  you 
and  yours  unto  eternal  life !" 

In  his  Commentary  on  the  New  Testament,  we  often 
meet  with  sentiments  and  precepts  relating  to  the  pastoral 
office,  which  were  evidently  transcribed  from  an  imprint 
which  the  Divine  hand  made  on  his  own  heart,  and  which 
it  was  the  study  of  his  life  to  carry  out  into  practice. 
"  Here,"  writes  he,  "  is  the  difference  between  the  hireling 
and  the  good  shepherd.  The  hireling  counts  the  sheep  his 
own  no  longer  than  they  are  profitable  to  him ;  the  good 
shepherd  looks  upon  them  as  his,  so  long  as  he  can  be  pro- 
fitable to  them."  "  A  good  shepherd  conducts  his  flock 
where  good  pasturage  is  to  be  found,  watches  over  them 
while  there,  brings  them  back  again,  and  secures  them  in 
the  fold.  So  he  that  is  called  and  taught  of  God  feeds  the 
flock  of  Christ  with  those  truths  of  his  words  which  nourish 
them  unto  eternal  life,  and  God  blesses  together  both  the 
shepherd  and  the  flock ;  so  that,  going  out  and  coming  in, 
they  find  pasture." 


200  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

We  will  now  resume  our  narrative.  Mr.  Clarke  was 
about  to  enter  upon  a  vast  field  of  ministerial  labor  in  the 
metropolis.  He  went  into  it  trusting  alone  in  God,  whose 
present  Spirit  could  be  his  only  sufficiency.  To  save  one 
soul  from  hell,  or  to  guide  one  man  from  earth  to  heaven, 
is  a  task  to  which  no  mere  human  wisdom  or  work  is  ade- 
quate. But  he  who  hears  the  voice  which  says,  "  Lo,  I  am, 
with  you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world,"  will  go 
about  it  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  making  mention  of  his 
righteousness,  even  his  only.  Such  was  the  frame  of  mind 
in  which  this  single-hearted  and  faithful  servant  of  the  Lord 
endeavored  to  discharge  the  trust  conferred  by  Him  who  in 
his  providence  had  led  him  to  the.  work,  and  by  his  grace 
had  endowed  him  with  those  heavenly  gifts  which  qualified 
him  to  do  it — 

"  A  prophet's  inspiration  from  above, 
A  teacher's  knowledge,  and  a  Saviour's  love." 


THE   PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  201 


CHAPTER  in. 

THE   PREACHER   AND    PASTOR CONTINUED. 

AT  the  present  time  the  Methodist  communion  has  nine 
metropolitan  circuits ;  but  in  the  year  1795,  when  Mr. 
Clarke  received  his  appointment  from  the  Manchester  Con- 
ference, the  whole  of  London,  and  much  of  the  surrounding 
country,  formed  but  one  vast  circuit.  It  extended,  in  fact, 
from  Woolwich  to  Twickenham,  and  from  Edmonton  to 
Dorking,  with  occasional  visits  to  various  outlying  places, 
as  Barking,  St.  Alban's,  etc.  There  were  about  four  thou- 
sand members  in  society.  The  Superintendent  was  Mr. 
Pawson;  and  Mr.  Clarke's  other  colleagues  were  Messrs. 
Wrigley,  West,  Griffith,  and  Keece.  His  residence  in  John- 
street,  Spitalfields,  adjoined  the  chapel.  Here  he  resumed, 
with  greater  intenseness  than  ever,  the  labors  of  his  devoted 
life;  for,  in  addition  to  the  great  physical  and  intellectual 
efforts  demanded  by  his  pulpit  and  pastoral  work,  his  mind 
was  now  beginning  to  put  forth  its  strength  in  those  literary 
toils  which  in  their  results  have  given  him  an  abiding 
name.  All  his  past  studies  had  been  but  preparatory,  and 
from  the  stores  he  had  been  accumulating,  he  felt  it  a  law  of 
God  in  his  conscience  to  "  bring  forth  out  of  his  treasury 
things  new  and  old,"  for  the  increase  of  learning,  and  the 
promotion  of  truth  and  piety  among  men.  And  more 
especially  were  his  energies  concentrated,  in  the  study,  on 
the  elaboration  of  a  Commentary  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  to 
which  he  applied  all  the  leisure  time  he  could  command ; 
and  this,  from  the  very  nature  of  his  public  engagements, 
could  be  only  found  in  the  early  part  of  the  day.  One  of 
Mendelssohn's  works  has  the  title  of  "  Morning  Hours ;"  * 
and  we  are  sure  that  Adam  Clarke  might  have  given  a  sim- 
*Morgcnstunden. 


202  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

ilar  designation  to  the  goodly  array  of  volumes  with  which 
he  has  enriched  our  religious  literature.  We  have  in  them 
the  first  fresh  thinkings  of  his  mind — dew-drops  glittering 
in  the  orient  sun,  or  manna  gathered  in  the  prime.  He 
knew  that,  unless  the  early  time  of  the  day  were  redeemed, 
his  life  would  yield  but  little  fruit  in  the  field  of  literature. 
He  became,  therefore,  a  companion  of  the  morning  star. 
Later  in  the  day  he  had  to  meet  the  calls  of  one  duty  after 
another,  till  it  was  time  to  take  his  accustomed  journey  for 
the  pulpit  and  class  work  of  the  evening.  His  duties  in 
this  last  respect  took  him  to  various  parts  of  the  town,  and 
places  in  the  suburbs  lying  miles  away  from  home.  He 
either  could  not  or  would  not  avail  himself  of  any  means 
of  conveyance ;  but  usually  performed  his  journeys  on 
foot,  except  when  appointed  to  Dorking.  In  this  way, 
during  his  three  years'  stay  in  the  circuit,  he  walked  more 
than  seven  thousand  miles.  In  these  perambulations,  he 
had  an  almost  constant  companion  in  Mr.  Buttress,  one  of 
the  leading  Methodists  of  the  Spitalfields  chapel,  whose 
name,  as  maintained  by  his  descendants  to  the  present  day, 
is  honorably  cherished  in  the  communion  to  which  they 
have  been  steadfast.  Wherever  Mr.  Clarke  was  seen  in  the 
pulpit,  Mr.  Buttress  was  to  be  found  in  the  pew.  He,  of 
all  men,  would  be  prepared  to  give  an  opinion  as  to  the 
monotony  or  manifoldness  of  his  friend's  ministrations,  and 
his  testimony  goes  to  affirm  that  Mr.  Clarke's  preaching 
was  remarkable  for  its  endless  variety.  To  one  who  asked 
him  whether  he  did  not  become  tired  with  hearing  the  same 
discourses  so  often,  he  gave  the  reply,  that  he  had  never 
heard  the  same  discourse  twice,  except  on  one  occasion, 
when  it  was  repeated  at  his  own  request.  "Well,"  re- 
turned the  inquirer,  "  if  you  did  not  hear  the  same  text,  did 
he  not  take  the  same  subject?"  "  No,"  said  Mr.  Buttress, 
"not  anything  beyond  the  broad  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ."* 

*  A  biographer  should  not  hesitate  to  relate  circumstances  which  at 
times  may  appear  too  trivial  to  merit  a  record.  Dr.  Ferdinando  Warner 
boosted  tliut  he  had  written  hia  compiled  "  System  of  Divinity,"  in  five 


THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOR.  203 

The  results  of  these  well  sustained  exertions  can  only  be 
unfolded  in  the  final  day.  In  the  case  of  a  Methodist  min- 
ister, who  co-operates  with  so  many  others  in  the  same 
pulpit,  it  becomes  peculiarly  difficult  to  pronounce  upon  the 
measure  of  good  effected  by  the  ministry  of  one  alone.  No 
doubt  each  of  those  good  men,  who  labored  so  cordially  in 
word  and  doctrine,  had  seals  to  his  own  ministry  ;  and  all 
of  them  enjoyed  the  solemn  gratification  of  witnessing  the 
progress  of  the  work  of  God  in  their  circuit  at  large. 
Mr.  Clarke  did  not  long  prosecute  his  work  in  London  be- 
fore he  was  cheered  by  the  tokens  of  the  Holy  Spirit's 
presence  and  grace  in  the  gathering  in  of  some  who  were 
the  first-fruits  of  a  more  extensive  harvest.  Among  these 
were  two,  whose  conversion  to  God  was  productive  of  con- 
sequences of  everlasting  benefit  to  many  more. 

Mr.  Joseph  Butterworth,  an  opulent  law-publisher  in 
London,  had  married  Miss  Anne  Cooke,  the  sister  of  Mrs. 
Adam  Clarke.  Mr.  Butterworth,  though  the  son  of  a  Bap- 
tist minister,  (author  of  a  well  known  Concordance  to  the 
Holy  Scriptures,)  was  not,  at  that  time,  a  decidedly  relig- 
ious man,  nor  under  any  influences  which  would  prepossess 
him  in  favor  of  Methodism.  Still,  as  Mr.  Clarke  was  his 
brother-in-law,  though  personally  unknown  to  him,  he  felt  a 
sort  of  curiosity  to  hear  him.  The  effect  the  sermon  had 
upon  him  led  Mr.  Butterworth  to  hasten  the  fulfillment  of 
a  purpose  to  call  on  him,  and  to  seek  a  personal  acquaint- 
ance. He  accordingly  went  the  next  day  with  his  lady  to 
Spitalfields.  Mrs.  Butterworth  had  not  seen  her  sister  for 
years,  as,  from  the  disinclination  Mrs.  Cooke  had  entertained 
for  her  daughter's  marriage  with  Mr.  Clarke,  but  little  inter- 
course had  obtained  between  the  families.  These  old 
things,  however,  were  now  passing  away,  and  the  two  sisters 
were  enabled  to  renew  the  friendship  of  their  earlier  days 

volumes,  with  one  pen ;  and  Mr.  Clarke  used  to  tell  how  he  performed 
those  seven  thousand  miles  of  walking  with  one  pair  of  shoes,  "  made  at 
Altrincham,  in  Cheshire,  and  only  a  fortnight  old  when  he  entered  the 
eity.  They  were  often  mended,  but  served  the  purpose!" 


204:  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

under  the  sanctifying  benedictions  of  religion.  Learning 
that  Mr.  Clarke  was  going  to  preach  that  evening  at  Leyton- 
stone,  Mr.  Butterworth  offered  to  accompany  him. 

On  the  road  Mr.  Clarke  soon  perceived  that  the  mind  of 
his  brother-in-law  was  awakened  to  serious  inquiry  about 
the  way  of  salvation ;  and  the  little  journey  passed  rapidly 
in  animated  conversation  on  the  things  of  God.  In  fact  the 
"  vital  spark  of  heavenly  flame "  had  been  kindled  in  Mr. 
Butterworth's  heart,  and  on  the  way  homeward  he  disclosed 
to  Mr.  Clarke,  that,  while  hearing  him  preach  on  the  preced- 
ing Sunday,  he  had  received  impressions  of  the  truth 
which  had  moved  him  to  seek  the  grace  of  repentance  unto 
life ;  that  a  sense  of  guilt  and  depravity  had  arisen  in  his 
conscience,  and  that  it  was  his  great  desire  and  determina- 
tion to  find  the  mercy  which  alone  could  save  him.  Right 
gladly  did  Mr.  Clarke  point  out  to  him  the  way  to  the 
attainment  of  peace  with  God,  through  Jesus  Christ ;  and 
when,  after  supper,  the  visitors  having  gone  home,  Mr. 
Clarke  related  to  his  wife  the  conversation  which  had  taken 
place  between  himself  and  her  brother-in-law,  his  gratifica- 
tion was  greatly  enhanced  by  learning  that  the  sisters  had 
spent  the  evening  in  converse  on  the  same  theme.  Mrs. 
Butterworth  had  participated  with  her  husband  in  the 
Divine  influence  which  attended  the  discourse  on  Sunday, 
and  acknowledged  that  she  had  come  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
ferring with  her  sister  about  the  things  belonging  to  her 
eternal  peace.  Equally  remarkable  it  is,  that  both  these 
inquirers  after  the  pardoning  mercy  of  God  found  the  grace 
they  were  seeking  while  hearing  another  sermon  from  Mr. 
Clarke.  The  friendship  established  under  these  auspicious 
circumstances  received  an  eternal  seal.  Joined  to  the  Lord 
in  one  spirit,  and  in  one  hope  of  their  calling,  they  spent 
their  remaining  days  in  the  service  of  their  redeeming  God  ; 
and,  being  gathered  "into  the  ark  of  Christ's  Church," 
"steadfast  in  faith,  joyful  through  hope,  and  rooted  in 
charity,"  so  passed  "  the  waves  of  this  troublesome  world," 
as  to  come  together  "  to  the  land  of  everlasting  life."  The 


THE  PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  205 

Butterworths,  having  given  their  hearts  to  the  Lord,  gave 
their  hands  at  once  to  his  cause,  and  as  members  of  the 
Methodist  communion  adorned  the  doctrine  of  their  Saviour 
in  a  life  fragrant  with  devotion  and  beneficence.  In  the 
Church,  Mr.  Butterworth  long  sustained  most  influential 
offices ;  and  in  the  world,  whether  as  a  mercantile  man,  as  a 
patron  and  manager  of  various  philanthropic  institutions,  or 
as  a  diligent  and  effective  member  of  Parliament,  he  stood 
for  many  years  conspicuous  among  the  best  men  of  his 
time. 

In  the  London  Circuit,  at  large,  Mr.  Clarke  and  his  excel- 
lent colleagues  had  the  great  encouragement  of  witnessing 
the  tokens  of  divine  mercy  in  those  signs  and  wonders  of 
salvation  by  which  much  people  were  turned  to  the  Lord. 
In  writing  to  a  friend  at  Liverpool,  he  describes  this  work 
as  an  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God  such  as  he  had  never 
seen  before.  "  Every  part  of  the  city  seemed  to  partake 
of  it.  The  preachings  were  well  attended,  and  a  gracious 
influence  rested  on  the  people.  After  the  regular  service 
we  have  a  prayer-meeting,  in  which  much  good  is  done. 
The  first  movement  took  place  in  our  Sunday  schools ;  and 
in  Spitalfields,  New  Chapel,  West-street,  and  Snow's-fields, 
simultaneously.  Several  sheets  of  paper  would  not  suffice 
to  give  you  even  a  general  idea  of  what  is  going  on. 
Last  night  we  had  our  love-feast.  For  about  half  an  hour 
the  people  spoke ;  when  all  was  ended  in  that  way,  we 
exhorted  and  prayed  with  many  who  were  in  great  mental 
distress.  We  remained  four  hours  hi  these  exercises. 
You  might  have  seen  small  parties  praying  in  separate 
parts  of  the  chapel  at  the  same  time.  The  mourning  was 
like  that  of  Hadad-rimmon ;  every  family  seemed  to  mourn 
apart.  We  who  prayed  circulated  through  the  whole  chapel, 
above  and  below,  adapting  our  prayers  and  exhortations  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  mourners.  Many  were  pardoned ; 
to  others  strong  hope  was  vouchsafed,  and  then  was  the  ad- 
vice given  by  each  to  his  neighbor  to  believe  in  Jesus :  '  He 
has  pardoned  me !  O,  do  not  doubt,  seeing  he  has  hud 


206  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

mercy  upon  me,  the  vilest  of  sinners !'  One  scene  particu- 
larly affected  me.  A  young  man,  recently  married  to  an 
unconverted  young  woman,  persuaded  her  to  kneel  down 
with  two  others  who  were  in  deep  distress.  Presently  she 
was  cut  to  the  heart ;  I  visited  them  backward  and  forward, 
at  least  a  score  times.  After  they  had  been  about  three 
hours  in  this  state,  the  young  woman  found  peace,  and  in  a 
short  time  the  other  two  entered  into  liberty.  When  the 
young  fellow  found  his  wife  praising  God  for  his  mercy,  he 
was  almost  transported  with  joy ;  he  sung,  prayed,  and 
praised ;  and  great  indeed  was  their  mutual  glorying,  and 
so  was  ours  on  their  behalf.  Well,  thus  we  continued,  un- 
til at  a  late  hour  I  prevailed  on  the  people,  with  some  diffi- 
culty, to  go  home.  We  are  trying  to  get  these  meetings 
shortened.  If  friends  Russell,  Robinson,  etc.,  were  here, 
they  would  be  in  their  element." 

The  population  in  that  part  of  London  where  Mr.  Clarke 
resided  has  always  comprised  large  masses  of  the  poor  and 
destitute ;  and  in  seasons  of  commercial  depression  the 
poor  of  Spitalfields  Kave  been  subjected  to  great  distress. 
This  was  the  case  during  his  sojourn  in  that  neighborhood  ; 
and  it  well  accorded  with  the  disposition  of  his  heart,  aching 
so  often  at  the  sight  of  so  much  misery,  to  be  associated 
with  a  number  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  who  had  formed 
themselves  into  a  union  for  distributing  bread  and  soup  to 
the  famishing.  For  that  respectable  body  he  then  formed 
an  esteem  which  he  cherished  through  life,  and  which,  on 
their  part,  was  strongly  reciprocated. 

From  the  severe  toil  of  the  circuit,  and  the  constant  ten- 
sion of  his  mind,  as  well  for  the  pulpit  as  the  press,  his 
health  became  now  so  disordered  as  to  compel  him  to  obey 
the  requirement  of  his  medical  advisers,  to  retire  for  a 
short  time  into  the  country.  He  spent,  therefore,  a  little 
while  at  the  seaside  in  Kent,  where  he  was  greatly  revived 
by  the  pleasant  air  and  scenery  of  the  coast ;  and  then  took 
a  short  tour  into  Warwickshire,  where  the  ruins  of  Kenil- 
worth,  and  the  baronial  halls  of  Warwick  Castle,  afforded 


THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOR.  207 

him  a  delight  which  he  has  vividly  described  in  his  letters 
to  his  family  at  home.  At  Coventry  he  formed  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  venerable  Mr.  Butterworth,  the  father 
of  his  brother-in-law,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  occupying  the 
aged  minister's  pulpit.  Though  this  effort  did  not  contrib- 
ute to  augment  his  slowly  returning  strength  it  was  attend- 
ed by  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  it  was  not  made  in 
vain.  "  Yesterday,"  he  writes,  "  I  had  indeed  sore  work. 
I  preached  three  times,  and  at  least  an  hour  each  time.  I 
was  much  at  liberty,  and  really  believe  much  good  was  done. 
The  old  gentleman  and  all  his  flock  seem  highly  pleased. 
The  people  are  absolutely  (pro  tempore)  turning  Methodists, 
without  knowing  it.  Several  of  Mr.  Butterworth's  disaf- 
fected members,  who  have  not  been  in  his  chapel  for  many 
months,  came  twice  yesterday,  and  are  likely  to  continue." 
And  in  another  letter :  "  On  Friday  evening  I  preached  at 
our  own  place,  and  had  the  house  full.  Most  of  Mr.  But- 
terworth's family  were  there,  and  the  principal  members 
of  his  church.  Never  did  such  death-like  attention  occupy 
an  assembly  during  the  hour  that  I  insisted  on  Matt, 
vii,  7,  '  Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive,'  etc.  The  good  old  man 
got  almost  into  the  seventh  heaven ;  had  it  not  been  that  I 
made  the  full  salvation  of  God  too  easy  to  be  attained,  he 
might  have  walked  that  evening  into  paradise.  I  believe  a 
general  quickening  took  place  among  all,  and  I  need  not  tell 
you  how  our  Joseph  and  his  wife*  were  affected."  And 
again  :  "This  morning  we  were  to  have  set  off  for  Birming- 
ham ;  but  I  found  myself  so  much  indisposed  that  I  did  not 
like  the  thought  of  setting  off  in  such  a  tempest.  Weary 
as  I  am,  I  must  preach  to  night  at  our  own  place,  and  to- 
morrow night  at  Mr.  Butterworth's;  after  which  I  am 
to  take  coach  for  London  and  ride  all  night.  If  this  be 
not  the  way  to  wear  out,  it  is  certainly  not  the  way  to 
rust  out." 

With  somewhat  recruited  health,  Mr.  Clarke  resumed  his 
engagements  in  London,  and  completed  the  third  year  of 
*Mr.  and  Mrs*.  Butterworth,  who  were  then  visiting  at  Coventry. 


208  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

labor  in  that  circuit.  He  seems  to  have  worked  in  perfect 
harmony  with  his  colleagues,  except  about  one  difficulty 
which  occurred  in  the  case  of  Dr.  Whitehead,  who  having 
been  ejected  from  the  office  of  local  preacher  by  the  late 
superintendent,  Mr.  Rogers,  on  account  of  what  was  deemed 
a  dishonorable  use  of  certain  papers  in  preparing  his  biog- 
raphy of  Mr.  Wesley,  was  now  making  strenuous  efforts 
for  reinstatement  on  the  Plan.  In  this  he  was  seconded 
by  many  of  the  trustees,  and  had  also  the  concurrence  of 
Mr.  Pawson  and  others  of  the  preachers.  Mr.  Clarke,  how- 
ever, felt  compelled  to  oppose  the  wishes  of  his  excellent 
superintendent ;  nor,  though  Dr.  Whitehead  was  subse- 
quently reinstated,  could  he  eyer  modify  the  opinion  he  had 
formed  on  that  subject.  This  little  ruffle,  however,  soon 
passed  away,  and  the  current  of  friendship  rolled  on,  with 
a  deeper  sense  of  esteem  from  the  knowledge  that  each  min- 
ister had  of  the  others'  integrity ;  and  the  year,  which  had 
thus  commenced  under  somewhat  unpropitious  influences, 
passed  away  in  peace.  And  this  was  the  case  with  the  Con- 
nection at  large,  which  within  the  last  three  years  had  been 
severely  tried  by  the  hostile  movements  of  Mr.  Kilham  and 
his  partisans.  Into  the  details  of  that  wretched  controversy 
we  have  no  inclination  to  enter.  Its  rise  and  progress  are 
matters  of  Methodistic  history ;  and  time  the  great  prover 
of  all  things,  has  given  such  a  verdict  on  the  relative  merits 
of  the  "Old"  and  the  "  New  Connection,"  as  the  friends  of 
the  former  are  most  thankful  to  accept.  One  tempest  has 
broken  its  force  upon  it  after  another,  but  Wesleyan  Meth- 
odism was  never  so  strong  as  it  is  to-day. 

At  the  end  of  his  third  year  Mr.  Clarke  attended  the 
Conference  of  1798  at  Bristol,  which  was  held  under  the 
presidency  of 'Mr.  Benson.  While  there  he  wrote  to  Mrs. 
Clarke  from  time  to  time  some  of  the  "  Conference  news." 
"  Notwithstanding  our  great  losses  by  the  Kilhamites,  we 
have  had,"  says  he,  "  a  considerable  increase  this  year. 
We  are  now,  glory  to  the  God  of  heaven,  not  less  than 
100,750  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Strange  to  tell,  all 


THE  PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  209 

the  Irish  collections  have  increased.  Mr.  Mather,  Mr.  Ben- 
son, and  others  have  been  at  me  in  private  to  go  to  Corn- 
wall, and  be  general  superintendent  for  the  whole  county. 
I  am  not  very  fond  of  ruling,  yet  I  think  it  is  possible  I 
may  be  sent  there.  .  .  .  The  characters  of  the  preachers 
examined — all  gone  through  ;  and,  among  upward  of  three 
hundred  traveling  preachers,  not  one  charge  of  immorality 
brought  against  any  soul ;  and  yet  everything  was  sifted  to 
the  heart.  O  what  thanks  do  we  owe  to  God  for  thus  pre- 
serving us  from  the  corruptions  of  the  world !  A  solemn 
exhortation  was  then  given  by  Messrs.  Benson.  Mather,  and 
Pawson,  to  all  the  brethren,  that  they  should  keep  themselves 
pure."  He  adds,  pleasantly :  "  A  few  preachers  were  found 
guilty  of  long  sleeves  cropped  heads,*  and  stringed  shoes," 
(the  buckles  cast  away  !)  "  and  severely  reprimanded.  Af- 
ter all,  never  was  there  a  body  of  men  in  the  world  who 
winked  less  at  any  appearance  of  evil  than  these ;  and  I  sol- 
emnly believe  no  body  of  Christian  ministers,  since  the 
world  began,  so  large  was  ever  found  more  blameless." 

At  this  Conference  Mr.  Clarke  was  a  good  deal  busied 
in  settling  on  a  legal  basis  the  Preachers'  Annuitant  Soci- 
ety, to  which  he  became  for  a  time  both  treasurer  and  sec- 
retary. In  the  prosperity  of  this  institution  he  ever  took  a 
lively  interest,  from  his  sympathy  for  the  aged  and  disabled 
laborers  in  a  field  in  which  he  himself  was  fast  wearing  out 
strength  and  health,  as  well  as  on  account  of  the  modicum 
of  comfort  its  scanty  resources  would  afford  to  the  widow 
and  orphan.  Among  some  papers  before  me  there  is  a  mem- 
orandum by  Mrs.  R.  Smith,  relating  to  this  point,  which  I 
shall  do  well  to  insert :  "  My  father  was  remarkable  for 
the  zealous  care  he  manifested  over  any  trust  committed  to 
him,  though  he  undertook  a  charge  of  that  nature  very  un- 
willingly. At  one  pariod  it  was  his  duty  to  receive  the 
dividends  of  the  Preachers'  Annuitant  Society.  Having 
casually  learned  that  the  broker  who  transacted  the  business 
of  the  dividends  had  involved  himself  in  speculations,  he 

*  Long  hair  \vns  the  orthodox  style. 
14 


210  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

determined  to  apply  for  the  money  as  soon  as  it  could  be 
received  from  the  bank,  and,  requesting  me  to  accompany 
him,  entered  the  counting-house  of  the  gentleman  in  ques- 
tion, who,  seated  at  his  desk,  received  this  unexpected  visit 
not  very  graciously.  '  I  am  come,  sir,  for  the  dividend  on 
the  Preachers'  Annuitant  Society.'  'I  am  very  busy,  sir, 
and  cannot  attend  to  it  now,'  was  the  reply.  '  I  am  very 
sorry  to  inconvenience  you,  sir ;  and  as  I  myself  am  in  a 
hurry,  will  only  trouble  you  to  hand  it  to  me,  and  not 
intrude  any  further  on  your  time.'  I  cannot  give  it  to  you 
now,  sir,  having  much  more  important  business  here  before 
me.'  '  Why,  it  will  not  take  you  long  to  hand  it  to  me,  and 
then  I  will  leave  you  to  your  business,  and  go  away  on  my 
own.'  The  gentleman,  displeased  at  seeing  him  so  deter- 
mined, said,  '  I  cannot  be  interrupted,  Mr.  Clarke,  nor  pos- 
sibly give  it  to  you  now :'  upon  which  my  father  said,  in  a 
voice  of  resolute  firmness :  '  Sir,  I  stand  here  on  behalf  of 
the  widows  and  orphans  of  God's  Church,  and  claim  for  them 
the  money  you  hold  which  that  Church  has  raised  for  their 
support.  They  speak  by  my  mouth,  and  I  will  not  leave 
till  you  put  the  money  into  my  hand.  The  money,  sir, 
and  I  am  gone.'  The  money  was  paid  ;  and  my  father  took 
his  leave,  satisfied  that  he  had  performed  a  just  though  pain 
ful  duty."  Mr.  Clarke's  connection  with  this  legalized  fund 
extended  over  several  years. 

The  close  of  the  Conference  left  him  appointed  for  the 
second  time  to  Bristol,  under  the  superintendency  of  that 
truly  good  man,  Mr.  Walter  Griffith.  They  found  the  so- 
ciety but  slowly  recovering  from  the  shattering  effects  of 
the  storm  of  controversy  which  had  assailed  it  from  oppo- 
site quarters  :  from  the  anti-sacramental  bigotry  of  the  trus- 
tees and  their  partisans,  on  the  one  extreme,  and  the  ultra 
democracy  of  the  new  Kilhamite  school  on  the  other.  It 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  the  determination  of  the  new 
preachers  to  know  nothing  among  those  quarrelsome  peo- 
pie  save  Jesus  and  him  crucified  ;  well  knowing  that,  if 
Christ  came,  ho  would  bring  peace  with  him.  The  spirit 


THE   PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  211 

with  which  Adam  Clarke  went  to  work,  and  the  encourage- 
ments which  sustained  him,  become  apparent  in  a  letter 
dated  about  a  month  after  his  arrival  in  the  circuit :  "  Through 
mercy,  we  are  all  well.  Last  Sunday  was  my  turn  at  Kings- 
wood  and  Wick.  I  had  a  large  congregation  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  such  a  sense  of  the  presence  of  God  rested  on  us 
all  as  some  of  the  oldest  members  said  they  had  never  felt 
before.  I  took  that  glorious  subject :  '  How  excellent  is 
thy  loving-kindness,  O  God  !'  etc.  My  own  soul  was  greatly 
watered,  and  the  Lord  sent  a  plentiful  rain  on  his  inheri- 
tance. Though  the  place  was  thronged  there  was  not  a 
sound  in  it  save  that  of  my  own  voice  ;  till,  describing  how 
God  gave  to  those  who  turned  to  him  to  '  drink  of  the  river 
of  his  pleasure' — to  be  filled  with  the  very  thing  which 
made  God  himself  happy — I  raised  my  voice,  and  inquired 
in  the  name  of  the  living  God,  '  Who  was  miserable?  Who 
was  willing  to  be  saved  1  to  be  made  happy  ?  Who  was 
athirst1?'  A  wretched  being,  who  had  long  hardened  his 
heart  by  a  course  of  uncommon  wickedness,  roared  out :  '  I 
am,  Lord  !  I  am  !  I  am  !'  In  a  moment  there  was  a  gen- 
eral commotion.  I  seized  the  instant  and  told  them  to  com- 
pose themselves  and  listen,  for  I  had  something  more  to 
tell  them — something  for  every  soul,  a  great,  an  eternal 
good.  I  am  just  going  to  open  to  you  another  stream  of 
'  the  river  of  his  pleasure.'  They  were  immediately  com- 
posed ;  and  in  a  very  few  moments  such  a  flood  of  tears 
streamed  down  all  cheeks  as  you  have  perhaps  never  seen; 
and  all  was  silence  but  the  sighings  which  escaped,  and 
the  noise  made  by  the  poor  fellow  who  was  still  crying  to 
God  for  mercy.  In  about  half  an  hour  we  ended  one  of 
the  most  solemn  and  blessed  meetings  I  ever  ministered  in. 
I  was  then  obliged  to  set  off  for  Wick,  a  place  several 
miles  farther.  Here  I  had  a  good  congregation. 

"  You  will  wish  to  know  what  became  of  the  poor  man, 
and  I  am  glad  I  can  tell  you.  I  had  it  yesterday  from  one 
of  the  leaders  at  Kingswood.  When  he  left  the  chapel  he 
set  off  for  the  first  prayer-meeting  he  could  find,  thinking 


212  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

God  would  never  forgive  his  sins  till  he  made  confession  unre- 
servedly of  all  his  iniquities.  He  began  in  the  simplicity  of 
his  soul,  and,  with  an  agonized  heart,  and  streaming  eyes, 
made  known  the  evils  of  his  life.  They  prayed  with  him,  and 
God  gradually  brought  him  into  the  liberty  of  his  children." 
In  the  following  month  Mr.  Clarke  was  called  to  mourn 
the  death  of  his  father,  who  had  been  declining  in  health  for 
some  time,  and  latterly  so  much  so  as  to  excite  a  strong  desire 
in  the  mind  of  his  son  to  go  down  to  Lancashire  to  see  him, 
and  receive  his  blessing.  But  the  unavoidable  business 
which  pressed  upon  him  on  entering  his  new  circuit  at  the 
ticket^time,  and  his  own  domestic  circumstances,  obliged  him 
still  to  delay,  till  to  his  great  grief,  the  opportunity  had 
forever  passed.  He  had  written,  however,  "to  an  old  and 
very  intimate  friend,  John  Berwick,  Esq.,  of  Manchester, 
entreating  him  to  watch  over  his  father,  and  to  minister  to 
his  comfort."  Mr.  Berwick  fulfilled  the  request,  and  attended 
the  invalid  to  the  last.  "  When  I  ai'rived  this  forenoon," 
he  writes  to  Mr.  Clarke,  announcing  the  solemn  event  of 
his  parent's  decease,  "  I  found  him  much  altered  indeed.  .  .  . 
He  was  seated  in  his  chair,  but  wanted  to  be  removed  into 
bed.  I  wished  to  have  your  desire  of  '  a  line  from  his  own 
hand.'  I  therefore  put  a  table  before  him,  and  paper,  and 
put  the  pen  in  his  hand.  He  faintly  said,  'I  only  wish  to 
send  my  blessing.'  He  was  very  happy,  and  willing  to  die. 
After  he  had  written  the  few  words  he  was  got  into  bed, 
and  appeared  better.  I  thought  he  might  survive  a  lew 
hours,  and  therefore  took  my  leave  of  him,  and  told  him  I 
would  return.  He  asked  God  to  bless  me,  very  loud.  At 
iny  return  I  found  he  had  just  gone  to  glory,  without  a  groan. 
I  had  spoken  to  him  respecting  you.  I  told  him  I  thought 
it  well  you  had  not  been  sent  for,  as  you  could  have  done 
him  no  good.  He  said  he  was  perfectly  satisfied;  for,  if 
you  had  suffered  from  the  effects  of  the  journey,  he  should 
have  been  very  unhappy.  He  added  that  he  had  no  pain, 
and  that  one  moment  in  eternity  would  compensate  for  all 
he  had  suffered  here." 


THE   PREACHER  AND  PASTOR.  213 

On  the  same  sheet  of  paper  is  the  last  benediction : 

u  May  the  blessing  of  God,  and  a  dying  father's  blessing, 
ever  be  upon  you  all,  my  children.  I  die  full  of  hope  and 
happy.  JOHN  CLARKE. 

"  God  bless  you  all.     Adam=Mary, 

William*=Mary, 

Tracy — all — all.     Amen." 

Under  this  sacred  record  are  to  be  seen  the  following 
lines  :  "  These  words  my  precious  father  wrote  an  hour  and 
a  half  before  he  went  to  glory.  ADAM  CLARKE." 

Mr.  Clarke  was  deeply  affected  by  this  event.  He  ex- 
pressed himself  "  as  if  the  bands  of  life  were  loosened  from 
around  him,  and  his  mental  and  physical  powers  almost 
brought  down  together  to  the  sides  of  the  grave."  He  sent 
immediately  for  his  widowed  mother,  who  came  and  resided 
with  him  till  he  left  Bristol,  when  she  went  to  live  with  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Exley,  who  was  then  settled  in  that  city. 
Mr.  Clarke,  senior,  was  buried  in  Ardwick  churchyard,  Man- 
chester. His  tombstone,  which  is  inscribed,  "  To  JOHN 
CLARKE,  M.  A.,"  states  that  he  died  in  the  sixty-second 
year  of  his  age.  So  rested  this  learned,  honest,  and  labo- 
rious man  from  the  toils  and  disappointments  of  mortality. 
Ever  afterward  his  son  Adam,  passing  that  churchyard, 
either  on  foot  or  riding,  uncovered  his  head  the  whole  length 
of  the  cemetery ;  a  token  of  the  reverence  and  love  which 
all  through  life  he  cherished  for  his  father's  memory. 

This  was  not  the  only  circumstance  which  threw  a  shad- 
ow over  the  present  year.  It  was  a  time  of  universal 
gloom.  The  thunder-clouds  of  war  darkened  the  political 
sky  ;  commercial  adversity  shut  up  the  warehouse  of  the 
merchant ;  and  want,  approaching  to  famine  itself,  reigned 
in  the  cottage.  "  These,"  writes  he,  "  are  troublous  times  ; 
and  we  need  to  watch  and  pray  always,  that  we  may  be  ac- 
counted worthy  to  escape  the  things  which  are  apparently 
coming  upon  us,  and  to  stand  before  the  Son  of  Man."  A 
member  of  his  family,  reverting  to  those  days,  observes  : 
*  His  son-in-law,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Johnson. 


214  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

"  This  year,  and  the  succeeding  one,  were  marked  by  circum- 
stances of  unusual  scarcity.  All  ranks  felt  and  acknowl- 
edged the  distress  as  a  judgment ;  the  rich  voluntarily  ceased 
from  a  consumption  of  flour  in  the  way  of  elegant  indulgen- 
ces ;  the  middle  classes  found  it  difficult  to  support  their 
families,  through  the  scarceness  of  all  provisions  ;  and  the 
poor  sought  from  door  to  door  a  handful  of  food  to  save 
them  from  dying.  Alas !  they  could  not  always  meet  with 
even  this,  and  numbers  of  them  perished  from  mere  starva- 
tion. From  the  effects  of  this  distress  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clarke 
and  their  infant  family  suffered  in  common  with  others ;  but 
they  concealed  their  necessities,  in  order  not  to  draw  upon 
the  sympathies  of  their  friends,  and  frequently  denied  them- 
selves a  sufficiency  of  food,  to  save  a  part  of  each  day's  al- 
lotment of  provisions  to  share  with  the  wretched  applicants 
who  were  in  still  greater  need  than  themselves.  Mr.  Clarke 
would  often  talk  to  his  little  ones  on  the  subject,  and  show 
them  their  starving  fellow-creatures,  who,  in  cold,  nakedness, 
and  famine,  sought  relief;  and  each  would  put  by  a  bit  of 
the  breakfast  or  supper  for  the  poor.  At  its  distribution 
they  were  all  present,  and  thus  were  taught  to  see  and  feel 
the  blessings  which  follow  self-denial,  in  the  happiness  it 
yielded  to  others.  Thus  did  he  early  train  his  little  flock  to 
feel  for  others,  and  to  love  then!  as  their  brethren." 

Mr.  Clarke  probably  referred  to  this  trying  time,  when, 
many  years  after,  on  a  visit  to  Bristol,  he  casually  met 
with  an  old  time-piece  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  him. 
"  That  clock,"  said  he,  "  I  sold  in  this  city,  for  the  mere 
purpose  of  buying  bread  for  my  children." 

But,  in  the  midst  of  these  depressions,  his  mental  activity 
never  flagged.  lie  had  entered  the  arena  of  literary  life, 
and  was  fast  rising  into  notice  as  an  author.  To  the  works 
of  Dr.  Clarke  we  will  devote  an  exclusive  chapter  further 
on,  and  be  content  at  present  with  observing  that,  after  throw- 
ing off  some  occasional  pieces  in  the  Arminian  Magazine, 
(among  which  was  a  curious  paper  on  Judicial  Astrology, 
condensed,  apparently,  from  Barclay's  "  Argenis,")  he  pub- 


THE   PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  215 

lished  in  1797  his  "  Dissertation  on  the  Use  and  Abuse  of 
Tobacco."  These  slight  efforts  were  now  followed  up  by  a 
Translation  of  Sturm's  "  Reflections,"  and  the  advancement 
of  a  work  in  Bibliography,  which  afterward  appeared  in  the 
form  of  a  Dictionary,  which  has  long  had  a  high  place  in  the 
esteem  of  men  of  letters,  together  with  two  smaller  publi- 
cations— an  Account  of  the  Polyglot  Bibles,  and  a  Catalogue 
Raisonne  of  the  principal  Editions  of  the  Greek  Testament. 
To  these  latter  works,  which  evince  prodigious  reading, 
scholarship,  and  indefatigable  industry,  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion ere  long  to  revert.  We  name  them  here,  to  show  in 
what  incessant  efforts  he  must  have  been  filling  up  his  meas- 
ured days.  Nor  should  it  be  omitted,  that  all  the  while  he 
was  diligently  engaged  with  the  Commentary  on  the  New 
Testament ;  of  which  he  had  now  finished  the  Notes  on  the 
first  two  Gospels,  and  some  other  parts  of  the  sacred  volume. 
It  is  with  Mr.  Clarke  as  a  preacher  and  pastor  that  the  pres- 
ent stage  of  our  recollections  has  to  do.  Let  us  hear  him 
•speak  on  these  matters  for  himself: 

"  Last  Sabbath  I  was  at  Kingswood.  The  thronging  to- 
gether of  the  people  was  truly  astonishing.  The  chapel  was 
thronged,  and  the  grave  is  not  more  silent  than  was  that 
crowd  of  listening  people.  While  preaching  I  felt  a  strong 
persuasion  that  God  would  visit  them.  I  told  them  so,  and 
it  had  a  good  effect  on  all ;  they  heard  for  eternity,  and  I 
could  not  help  joining  in  the  prayer  of  one  of  them  '  O  God, 
save  all,  save  all !' 

"  I  had  a  sore  day  last  Sabbath  fortnight.  Rode  twenty- 
four  miles,  gave  tickets  in  three  places,  preached  three  times, 
and  had  not  a  morsel  either  of  flesh,  fish,  or  fowl,  or  good  red 
herring,  all  day  ;  neither  wine,  nor  strong  drink  ;  only  about 
half-past  twelve  got  a  few  potatoes,  and  as  much  as  I  pleased 
of  bad  small-beer."  (He  sometimes  fared  thus  meagerly, 
from  his  inveterate  dislike  to  bacon  and  pork.  His  brethren 
who  had  no  such  antipathies  made  a  hearty  dinner  when 
our  friend  could  eat  only  the  potatoes.)  •"  The  work  of  God 
goes  on  nobly  at  Kingswood.  There  is  a  new  place  taken 


216  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

in,  the  worst  in  all  the  wood ;  it  is  called  Cock-road.  As 
the  inhabitants  were  all  sons  of  Belial,  no  person  dared  to  go 
into  the  place  for  fear  of  being  knocked  on  the  head.  There 
are  thirty  of  these  miserable  sinners  now  joined  in  class, 
and  several  of  them  have  found  peace  with  God.  The  devil 
has  sustained  a  heavy  loss  in  that  quarter." 

Referring  to  this  neighborhood  afterward,  he  says :  "  The 
work  still  goes  on  gloriously  at  Cock-road.  One  man,  tho 
vilest  of  the  vile,  hearing  that  several  of  his  companions 
were  converted,  and  that  they  prayed  publicly,  said,  '  So 
Tom  prays,  and  Jack  prays ;  what  can  they  say  ?  I'll  go  and 
hear ;'  and  away  he  went,  and  got  to  a  prayer-meeting, 
where  every  soul  seemed  engaged  with  God  but  himself. 
At  last  the  power  of  God  seized  upon  the  wretch's  heart,  and 
he  exclaimed,  '  One  prays  and  another  prays  :  I'LL  PRAY  ;' 
and  down  he  fell,  and  began  in  his  way  to  cry  to  God  for 
the  salvation  of  his  soul.  This  human  fiend  who  could 
scarcely  utter  a  word  without  an  oath,  is  now  transformed 
into  a  saint,  and  is  walking  in  all  meekness  and  gentleness 
and  uprightness  before  God.  What  could  effect  this  change 
but  the  Almighty  power  of  the  grace  of  Christ  ? 

"  We  had  a  genuine  love-feast  yesterday  at  Kingswood. 
How  little,  how  unutterably  little,  did  all  the  partisans  of 
infidelity  and  their  opinions  appear  in  the  business  of  that 
day  !  We  had  some  very  affecting  testimonies,  and  some 
uncommon  ones.  I  began  at  first  to  take  notes  of  them ; 
but  soon  found  that,  if  I  continued  them,  I  should  lose  the 
spirit  and  good  of  them  to  my  own  soul.  A  young  man 
delivered  a  speech  of  at  least  twenty  minutes  in  length  con- 
cerning his  conversion.  He  was  a  collier;  it  was  impres- 
sive beyond  description ;  and  so  great  was  the  whole,  that 
to  me  the  parts  are  uncollectible.  Some  very  great  ideas 
were  produced  by  those  plain  unlettered  men.  One  of  them, 
recently  brought  to  God,  endeavored  at  first  to  get  rid  of 
his  convictions ;  but  such  was  the  agony  of  his  soul,  and 
such  its  continuance,  that  nature  was  exhausted.  'On 
awaking  one  morning,'  he  said,  '  1  felt  ashamed  to  look  at 


THE   PKEACHER  AND   PASTOR.  217 

the  daylight,  much  more  to  look  at  God.  I  roared  for  the 
disquietude  of  my  soul.  I  called  mightily  for  mercy.  No 
answer.  At  last  I  tumbled  me  out  of  bed,  and  prayed  with 
all  my  soul.  I  then  drew  out  my  three  little  children,  told 
them  to  kneel  down,  and  say  their  prayers  for  their  father.' 
It  is  needless  to  add,  that  his, own  prayers,  and  those  of  his 
three  little  innocents  to  God,  brought  a  speedy  answer  of 
peace  to  his  spirit ;  in  which  salvation  he  continues  to  walk 
in  a  most  exemplary  way." 

Christian !  does  not  your  heart  melt  at  these  recitals  1 
Let  not  the  men  of  rituals  and  formulas  tell  us  of  the  scan- 
dal of  these  transgressions  of  ecclesiastical  routine.  He 
who  understands  the  true  spirit  of  .the  apostolic  constitu- 
tions knows  that  these  proceedings  both  fulfill  the  purpose 
for  which  the  apostles  labored,  and  harmonize  with  every 
canon  they  ordained  for  the  increase  and  stability  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

Intense  study,  writing  eight  or  ten  hours  a  day,  and  the 
full  work  of  a  Methodist  preacher's  life,  had  already  made 
sad  inroads  on  Mr.  Clarke's  health.  Toward  the  close  of 
his  time  in  Bristol,  he  says :  "  I  was  once  a  young  man  both 
without  and  within;  but  the  outward  young  man  is  gone, 
though  the  inward  still  continues.  I  have  only  to  say,  that 
if  my  natural  force  be  abated,  my  eye  grown  dim  and  my 
hair  grey,  long  before  the  ordinary  time  of  life,*  Satan 
cannot  boast  that  these  preternatural  failures  have  taken 
place  in  his  service,  or  were  ever,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, occasioned  by  it.  Blessed  be  God  !" 

A  journey  now  and  then  served  to  withdraw  his  attention 
from  study,  and  invigorate  mind  and  body  for  further  labor. 
Thus,  in  January,  1799,  he  goes  to  London.  From  some 
characteristic  letters  to  Mrs.  Clarke,  written  while  on  that 
visit,  we  set  down  a  few  sentences  :  "  Yesterday  morning  I 
preached  at  City  Road.  Though  the  people  had  not  got 
much  notice,  yet  there  was  a  large  congregation.  I  preached 
on  Rom.  xv,  4-6.  It  was  an  uncommon  subject,  and  I 
*He  was  then  about  thirty-nine. 


218  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

found  considerable  liberty.  Almost  all  my  old  Mercuries 
were  there,  and  I  think  most  of  the  trustees.  Many  were 
ready  to  half-eat  me.  1  went  thence  to  Mr.  Bulmer's  to 
dine  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sundius,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Butterworth, 
and  Mr.  Edward.  I  then  went  to  Spitalfields,  and  preached 
at  three ;  here  was  a  large  congregation,  and  by  the  time  I 
had  done  my  strength  was  finished.  I  then  went  to  see  Mr. 
Johnson,  thence  to  Mr.  Fisher's,  thence  to  Mr.  Williams's, 
thence  to  W.,  where  our  dinner-party  supped  together  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buttress.  They  departed  at  eleven,  and  I 
stayed  all  night.  This  morning,  after  breakfast,  I  set  off 
again ;  for  Mr.  Sundius  had  given  me  two  guineas  to  give 

to  the  poor  of  my  acquaintance.     I  gave  both  to ,  and 

it  was  a  time  of  need,  as  they  are  much  in  debt  for  the  ne- 
cessaries of  life.  I  gave  him  also  a  guinea  to  pay  for  me  at 
the  Widow's  Relief.  Thence  to  Mr.  Williams's.  They  are 
both  very  low,  having  lost  both  their  children ;  thence  to 
Mr.  Cressall's,  thence  to  Mr.  Reece's ;  thence  to  the  soup- 
house,  where  I  got  a  very  good  and  highly  acceptable  bason. 
I  met  with  Mr.  Bevan,  who  was  very  glad  to  see  me,  and 
took  me  to  his  house  in  Ploughcourt.  He  has  got  up  the 
residue  of  the  yearly  epistles.  I  called  in  at  Mr.  Baynes's 
at  one  o'clock.  They  were  going  to  dinner.  I  sat  do\wi 
and  ate  with  them.  I  hope  to  sup  this  evening  at  Mr.  Mid- 
dleton's.  I  have  not  had  a  quarter  of  a  night's  sleep  since  1 
left.  To-morrow  I  serve  at  the  soup-house." 

More  than  a  year  afterward  (March,  1801)  lie  takes 
another  excursion  into  Cornwall.  From  the  kind  of  epis- 
tolary journal  sent  by  several  posts  to  Mrs.  Clarke,  on  this 
excursion,  we  will  also  take  a  few  passages  : 

"  Mr    MOST    EXCELLENT    AND    BELOVED     MARY  :     We    left 

Bristol  about  five  minutes  before  six  o'clock,  and  came  on 
safely  and  slowly  eighteen  miles  to  a  place  called  Cross, 
where  we  got  breakfast  at  nine  o'clock.  I  had  some  cold  beef, 
and  made  a  breakfast  like  an  ancient  Briton.  We  soon 
got  under  weigh ;  in  all,  eight  passengers.  Through  Bridge- 


THE   PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  219 

water  we  came  to  Taunton,  where  a  dinner  was  provided 
of  roast  swine  and  boiled  swine,  with  a  miserable  knuckle 
of  veal.  I  asked  for  a  bit  of  cold  meat,  and  got  some  of  a 
very  miserable  quality.  They  charged  us  each  four  shil- 
lings and  ninepence.  Once  more  off.  The  road  most  jolty, 
especially  from  Collumpton.  Arrived  at  Exeter  at  a  quar- 
ter to  nine."  Leaving  the  city  in  a  chaise,  "  through  a  bad 
road  indeed,  got  to  Crockerton  a  little  after  twelve.  The 
good  folks  were  gone  to  bed,  and  the  landlady  rose  with  her 
child  of  fourteen  months  old,  which  I  lugged  about  while  she 
lighted  a  fire  and  got  us  a  comfortable  supper.  We  again 
set  off.  Dark  and  rainy  was  the  night ;  but  we  got  over  a 
rugged  hop-jump  way  to  Okehampton  at  half-past  three  this 
morning.  At  half-past  four  proceeded,  and,  very  much  fa- 
tigued, got  to  Launceston  at  eight,  where  I  now  write. 
Thus  God  has  conducted  us  in  perfect  safety  to  within  six- 
teen miles  of  Camelford.  Here  we  have  just  had  breakfast, 
and  are  in  expectation  of  horses,  which  Mr.  Mabyn  ordered 
to  meet  us.  Well  now,  you  see  that  the  Lord  cares  for 
your  queer  odd,  good-for-little  husband.  I  dare  say  you 
have  been  praying  for  me.  Pray  on,  Mary  !  I  have  not 
taken  this  journey  from  any  rambling  disposition ;  I  have 
felt  reluctant  to  it,  but  think  duty  has  compelled  me,  and  I 
wait  to  see  the  issue.  I  shall  not  venture  down  into  the 
west,  as  I  am  sure  a  month  would  not  suffice  to  go  to  all  the 
places  I  must  visit,  if  I  visited  any  one.  .  .  .  Tell  John 
here  is  a  very  beautiful  ancient  castle,  which  I  will  tell  him 
all  about  when  I  return." 

"  CAMELFORD,  March  13,  1801. 

"  After  waiting  a  long  time  in  a  most  uncomfortable  inn 
at  Launceston,  we  ordered  a  chaise  to  set  forward  to  Camel- 
ford  ;  and,  just  as  we  were  going  to  step  into  it,  our  horses 
came.  Having  fed  them,  we  took  the  chaise  for  eleven 
miles,  and  made  the  servant  follow  us  with  his  two  Rosin- 
antes.  It  was  well  we  did ;  for  we  had  a  tempest  all  the 
way.  When  we  came  to  the  inn,  I  borrowed  a  large  coat 


220  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

from  the  landlord,  who  is  an  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Mabyn's, 
mounted  my  tit,  and  hobbled  off  for  Camelford.  After 
many  stumbles  and  blunders  I  got  safely  to  Mr.  Mabyn's 
at  three  o'clock,  where  we  found  dinner  waiting.  In  the 
journey  from  Launceston  to  Camelford  I  passed  by  Trcgear, 
once  the  residence  of  my  old  affectionate  friend,  T.  Baron, 
Esq.  He  went  safely  to  heaven  some  years  ago  ;  and  his 
nephew,  who  was  a  young  lad  at  school  when  I  was  formerly 
in  these  parts,  became  heir  to  his  uncle's  estate,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, more  than  supplied  his  place,  He  turned  early  to 
God.  Married  to  a  young  lady  like-minded,  they  enjoyed 
in  their  family  all  that  earth  can  afford  of  felicity,  and  all 
that  Satan  could  envy.  God  also  lived  in  them,  and  they 
lived  in  God.  Affliction  is  the  lot  of  all.  Death  made  an 
inroad  in  their  little  family  by  removing  a  beloved  child ; 
and  the  same  dart  that  pierced  the  child  passed  through  the 
father's  heart  as  well.  He  followed  his  child  to  the  grave, 
and  in  five  days  went  into  it.  The  ways  of  God  are  in  the 
great  deep. 

"  March  14. — After  dinner  I  went  to  Michaelstow,  to  see 
my  old  afflicted  friend  Miss  Hocken,  whom  an  unaccounta- 
ble nervous  disorder  has  confined  for  thirty  years  mostly 
to  her  room.  One  of  the  finest  and  most  sensible  women 
in  Cornwall.  She  was  exceedingly  glad  to  see  me,  and 
I  spent  more  than  an  hour  in  profitable  conversation  with  a 
woman  who  obliged  me  to  leave  the  surface  and  go  to  the 
bottom  of  the  different  subjects  we  discussed.  Tell  John 
and  Theo.  that  in  this  journey  I  observed  several  things 
which  strongly  indicated  that  the  country  hereabout  has  suf- 
fered much  from  some  natural  violence.  I  observed  one  place 
where  a  mountain  seems  to  have  been  rent  in  twain  ;  the  cor- 
responding parts  on  either  side  are  nearly  half  a  mile  from 
each  other.  There  is  a  deep  valley  between  them,  at  the 
bottom  of  which  a  river  has  found  its  readiest  course.  .  .  . 
On  my  return  Rough  Tor,  the  highest  mountain  in  Corn- 
wail,  rose  on  my  right  hand.  On  its  top  two  peaks,  or 
rather,  large  rocks.  On  the  western  point  there  is,  I  am  in- 


THE   PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  221 

formed,  a  very  fine  Druidic  monument — an  altar,  with  an 
immense  stone  poised  on  the  top  of  another,  and  so  equally 
balanced  in  the  center  that  a  person  can  move  it.  Round 
about  are  large  basins  scooped  out  of  the  rock,  which  com- 
municate by  little  conduits  with  each  other,  and  which  ap- 
pear to  have  been  used  for  libations,  or  to  receive  the  blood 
of  the  sacrifices.  .  .  .  Last  evening  I  had  a  pleasing  visit 
from  Mr.  Pearse,  the  Duke  of  Bedford's  steward,  and  several 
others.  Mr.  P.,  who  is  one  of  the  excellent  of  the  earth,  t 
joined  to  the  society  seventeen  years  ago. 

"March  16. — I  am,  thank  God,  as  well  as  you  could  ex- 
pect me  to  be  on  Monday,  after  such  a  day's  work.  Yes- 
terday morning  I  preached  a  long  and  (for  me)  good  sermon 
on  the  purpose  and  design  of  the  Lord's  Supper;  after 
which  I  administered  that  sacred  ordinance  to  the  society. 
Many  were  in  tears  all  the  time;  and  several,  I  believe, 
took  the  sacramentum,  or  military  oath,  to  be  the  faithful 
followers  of  Christ  forever.  As  I  had  been  speaking  from 
half  past  ten  to  nearly  one,  I  felt  great  reluctance  to  preach 
again  at  two,  especially  as  one  of  their  own  preachers  was 
present ;  but  they  would  take  no  denial ;  even  Mr.  Mabyn 
himself  seemed  to  have  no  pity,  and  I  was  obliged  to  work 
once  more.  I  see  what  would  have  been  my  fate  had  I 
gone  to  the  west.  I  am  afraid  our  people  never  imagine 
that  speaking,  as  they  call  it,  can  hurt  a  man ;  but  this  also 
must  be  borne  with.  We  had  now  a  very  lively  meeting, 
with  a  multitude  of  elephantine  Amens.  By  the  evening 
the  news  had  spread  far  and  wide,  and  we  had  many  from 
four  to  ten  miles  round,  and  I  suppose  at  least  two-thirds 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Camelford.  All  that  the  chapel  could 
possibly  hold  came  in,  and  the  rest  stood  without,  cold  and 
uncomfortable  as  the  night  was.  I  worked  nearly  from  six 
to  eight.  On  my  concluding,  they  struck  up  a  prayer-meet- 
ing, and  continued  it  till  nine,  at  which  almost  all  that  were 
:n  the  house  during  the  preaching  continued.  When  I  got 
home,  I  was  supremely  wearied. 

"  I  am  now  preparing  to  set  oflT  for  Port  Isaac,  about  ten 


222  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

miles.  [Here  follow  some  antiquarian  descriptions.]  I 
have  had  a  pleasing  interview  with  a  young  gentleman  from 
India ;  he  reads  Persian  and  Arabic  with  the  true  accent, 
and  they  come  out  of  his  mouth  like  oil.  He  is  quite  a 
man  of  science,  and  has  joined  the  society  here,  and  met 
yesterday  in  class  the  first  time.  ...  I  hope  to  reach  Plymouth 
toward  the  end  of  this  week,  and  spend  the  Lord's  day 
there.  The  longer  I  stay  away,  the  more  earnestly  I  desire 
to  return." 

These  letters,  of  which  there  is  quite  a  packet,  abound 
with  picturesque  descriptions  of  the  country,  and  some  curi- 
ous information  on  the  archaeological  remains  in  that  part 
of  Cornwall;  the  substance  of  which,  with  enlargements, 
the  reader  may  find  in  the  doctor's  Miscellaneous  Works. 
He  appears  to  have  enriched  the  letters  with  these  topics 
for  the  instruction  of  his  children,  who  were  now  reaching 
the  years  when  the  mind  begins  to  hunger  after  knowledge. 
Happy  the  young  people  who  could  value  and  improve  the 
advantage  of  having  a  father  who  was  able  to  nourish  their 
minds,  as  well  as  their  bodies,  with  food  convenient  for 
them ! 

Mr.  Clarke  returned  to  Bristol  to  fill  up  the  remaining 
months  of  his  period  there  in  those  duties  which  tended,  by 
the  divine  blessing,  to  the  enlargement  and  upbuilding  of 
the  congregations  of  the  circuit,  both  in  town  and  country. 
Neither  he  nor  his  colleagues  were  permitted  to  spend  their 
strength  for  naught.  Large  multitudes  were  drawn,  from 
week  to  week,  to  hear  words  whereby  they  might  be  saved. 
The  impenitent  were  awakened  and  made  thoughtful ;  the 
seeker  found ;  the  more  advanced  in  the  spiritual  Hie 
were  led  further  heavenward;  and  God  in  all  things  was 
glorified. 


THE   PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  223 


CHAPTER  IY. 

THE    PREACHER    AND    PASTOR CONTINUED. 

BY  the  Conference  of  1801  Mr.  Clarke  was  appointed  for 
the  second  time  to  the  Liverpool  Circuit.  A  Methodist 
minister  is  called  to  suffer  more  than  many  other  men,  from 
the  breaking  up  of  that  friendly  intercourse  with  congenial 
minds  which  yields  so  much  consolation  to  our  life.  In 
Bristol,  during  the  last  three  years,  old  friendships  had  been 
more  strongly  confirmed,  and  new  ones,  both  in  the  circles 
of  religion  and  of  literature,  contracted,  which  contributed 
to  render  this  new  exodus  the  more  inconvenient  to  his  per- 
sonal feelings.  In  the  present  case,  however,  he  had  the 
advantage  of  coming  among  a  people  who  were  not  un- 
known to  him ;  by  whom  indeed,  for  his  work's  sake  in 
days  that  were  past,  he  was  welcomed  now  as  a  heartily 
trusted  friend,  and  by  not  a  few  of  them  revered  as  a  mes- 
senger of  the  Lord. 

He  entered  on  these  renewed  engagements  with  an  intel- 
lect amplified  by  the  studies  and  trials  of  the  intervening 
years,  and  a  heart  more  richly  than  ever  replete  with  the 
graces  which  the  Holy  Spirit  makes  perfect  in  the  faithful ; 
but  with  a  physical  constitution  too  greatly  enfeebled  by 
exhaustion  to  grapple  with  the  obligations  of  the  Methodist 
itinerancy.  He  was  often  now  taken  suddenly  ill.  so  as  to 
be  in  an  instant  deprived  of  sensation ;  and  on  one  occasion 
the  seizure  was  so  ominous,  that  his  friends  anticipated  the 
most  distressing  results.  He  staggered  on,  however,  with 
his  work,  both  in  the  study  and  the  circuit,  till  in  the  follow- 
ing April  he  was  obliged  to  be  taken  to  London  for  the  best 
medical  advice.  It  is  then  that  he  announces  to  Mrs.  Clarke 
the  very  serious  view  which  an  eminent  practitioner  took  of 
his  case  :  "  I  went  this  morning  with  Mr.  Butterworth  to  con- 


224  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

salt  Mr.  Pearson,  who  said  :  'You  must  totally  cease  from 
all  mental  and  bodily  exertion,  except  such  as  you  may 
take  in  cultivating  a  garden,  or  riding  on  horseback.  I 
know  not  whether  your  disease  be  not  too  far  advanced  to 
be  cured.  The  ventricles  of  your  heart  are  in  a  state  of  dis- 
ease ;  and  if  you  do  not  totally  and  absolutely  abstain  from 
reading,  writing,  preaching,  etc.,  you  will  die  speedily,  and 
you  will  die  suddenly.  Did  I  not  believe  you  to  be  in  such 
a  state  of  mind  as  not  to  be  hurt  at  this  declaration,  I  would 
have  suppressed  it ;  but,  as  matters  are,  I  deem  it  my  duty 
to  be  thus  explicit,  and  assure  you  that,  if  you  do  not 
wholly  abstain  for  at  least  twelve  months,  you  are  a  dead 
man  !'  Now,  my  dear  Mary,  you  must  not  believe  all  this ; 
but  we  will  talk  the  business  over  when  I  see  you.  If  I 
find  I  cannot  do  my  work,  I  will  give  it  up.  I  will  not  feed 
myself  to  starve  the  Church  of  God.  I  will  seek  out  some 
other  way  of  maintaining  my  wife  and  my  children."  With 
this  alternative,  he  was  compelled  to  give  some  remission 
to  his  habitual  efforts ;  and  with  such  good  effect,  that  at  the 
following  Conference  he  was  enabled  to  contemplate  the  re- 
sumption of  labor  as  not  altogether  unwarrantable,  though 
with  some  hesitation  about  the  locality,  as  Mrs.  Clarke's 
health  was  at  that  time  in  a  precarious  state.  We  have  his 
views  on  both  these  subjects  in  a"  letter  from  the  Bristol 
Conference  in  July,  1802  : 

"  MY  VERY  DEAR  MARY, — My  good  brother  Gibson's  let- 
ter this  morning  has  brought  no  small  pain  to  my  mind, 
and  my  anxious  uncertainty  at  times  is  almost  unbearable. 
Unless  a  more  favorable  account  come  soon,  I  must  set  off 
for  Liverpool.  Those  shiverings  continued  alarm  me  to 
the  extreme.  Mr.  Gibson  complains  that  few  people  call 
to  see  you;  but  of  this  I  am  heartily  glad.  In  staying 
nway  they  will  show  more  kindness  than  by  coming  to  see 
you.  I  know  not  what  to  say  or  do  in  my  appointment. 
If  I  thought  Liverpool  prejudicial  to  your  health,  I  would 
you  removed  immediately;  for  myself  I  fed  no  man- 


THE  PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  225 

ner  of  anxiety.  I  cannot  realize  my  own  danger  if  I  am  in. 
any.  It  is  hidden  from  me.  God  prepare  me  for  the 
worst !  My  brethren  think  there  is  little  or  nothing  the 
matter  with  me;  and  I  am  determined  to  take  up  my 
whole  work,  and  perform  it,  or  die.  This  is  my  resolution, 
and  from  it  I  shall  not  move,  God  being  my  helper.  There- 
fore I  return  to  begin  my  work,  as  if  I  never  had  felt  a  pang 
of  distress.  You  know  my  resolutions  are  not  yea  and  nay. 
But  I  must  add,  that  when,  having  tried  my  strength  to  the 
uttermost,  I  feel  I  cannot  do  the  whole  of  my  work,  1  will 
not  starve  the  work  of  God  to  feed  myself;  but  get  some 
other  employment,  by  which  I  can  support  my  family  with- 
out burdening  the  cause  of  God." 

They  who  wait  upon  the  Lord  renew  their  vigor.  So 
found  this  brave  servant  of  Christ.  He  went  in  the  strength 
of  the  Lord  God,  making  mention  of  his  righteousness  ;  and 
help  came  with  every  hour  of  duty.  "  The  afflictions  of  this 
present "  had  the  tendency  to  awaken  him  to  more  vivid  per- 
ceptions of  the  things  that  are  eternal ;  and  the  solemn  re- 
view of  life  hitherto  spent,  and  the  ordeal  to  which,  by  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  he  subjected  the  motives  of  his  conduct, 
enabled  him  to  thank  God  and  take  courage.  "  I  came  into  the 
work,"  says  he,  "  with  the  purest  motives,  and  now,  proba- 
bly standing  on  the  brink  of  eternity,  can  say,  no  motive  or 
end  which  I  cannot  acknowledge  before  God  has  ever  influ- 
enced me  for  an  hour.  Notwithstanding  my  ignorance, 
which  none  could  feel  so  much  as  myself,  I  have  gotten 
wonderfully  through,  and  have  had  as  much  favor  in  the 
sight  of  God's  people  as  was  necessary  for  me  to  go  on  with 
some  degree  of  success  and  comfort.  The  blessed  God  saw 
that  he  had  sown  a  seed  of  uprightness  in  my  soul,  which 
the  weeds  of  sinister  design  or  by-ends  had  never  been 
permitted  to  impede  the  growth  of,  much  less  to  choke.  He 
has,  therefore,  preserved  and  blessed  me  for  his  own  name's 
sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  that  which,  in  eternal  kindness,  he 
had  wrought  and  maintained  in  my  heart." 

15 


22  b'  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

As  a  means  of  edification  to  several  intelligent  Christian 
friends,  and  of  assistance  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  in  its 
higher  branches  to  young  men  of  intellectual  aspirations, 
Mr.  Clarke  formed  in  Liverpool  this  year  a  literary  and 
scientific  association,  which  took  the  title  of  a  "  Philological 
Society."  This  he  regularly  organized ;  and,  among  other 
helps  to  development,  supplied  it  with  a  long  series  of  ques- 
tions and  theses  for  examination.  Of  these,  I  give  a  few  as 
specimens :  "  No.  3.  What  is  an  essay  ?  and  are  there  any 
rules  by  which  this  species  of  composition  should  be  regu- 
lated? 12.  Which  of  the  arts  and  sciences  can  be  proved 
to  be  most  useful  to  mankind  ?  13.  In  what  arts  and 
sciences  do  the  moderns  excel  the  ancients  ?  and  vice  versa. 
9.  Which  is  the  most  effectual  way  of  disseminating  useful 
knowledge  among  the  lower  ranks  of  society  ?  22.  What 
is  the  difference  between  the  will  and  the  affections'?  and 
how  may  we  distinguish  the  operations  of  the  one  from  those 
of  the  other?  21.  What  is  conscience?  38.  What  is  the 
difference  between  heathen  virtue  and  Christian  morality  ? 
4.  What  is  the  best  method  of  bringing  up  children,  so  as 
to  preserve  their  health,  promote  their  growth,  and  improve 
their  understanding?  23.  What  is  the  best  method  of  treat- 
ing domestics  ?  24.  What  is  the  best  method  of  managing 
the  thoughts?  28.  What  are  those  arguments  for  Divine 
revelation  which,  all  Christians  assert,  have  not  been  and 
can  never  be  refuted  ?  What  is  an  idea  ?  Genius  ?  Com- 
mon sense  ?  Enthusiasm  ?  Sympathy  ?  A  gentleman  ? 
To  what  causes  can  the  diversity  of  dialects  in  a  living  lan- 
guage be  attributed?  159.  Required,  an  essay  on  the  an- 
tiquity, genius,  perfections,  and  utility  of  each  of  the  follow- 
ing languages :  Hebrew,  Arabic,  Persian,  Greek,  Latin, 
French,  Italian,  German,  and  English ;  with  an  account  of 
the  most  classical  and  important  philological  works  in  each. 

160.  Required,  a  grammar  of  each  of  the  above  languages, 
that,  in  quantity  of  matter  and  simplicity  of  expression,  shall 
be  brought  within  the  reach  of  the  capacity  of  children, 

161.  Required,  short,  plain,  comprehensive  treatises  on  the 


THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOR.  227 

elements  of  arithmetic,  geography,  astronomy,  geometry, 
etc.,  for  the  use  of  the  rising  generation,  and  especially 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  the  children  of  the  poor. 
171.  Required,  an  essay  on  the  superiority  of  the  civil  in- 
stitutions of  Moses  to  those  of  Menu,  Solon,  and  Lycurgus. 
146.  Required,  a  short  Scriptural  and  rational  essay  on  the 
Providence  of  God.  69.  What  further  improvements  are 
necessary  in  the  government  of  parish  work-houses  ? 
169.  Required,  an  essay  on  the  Pythagoric  doctrine  of  num- 
bers, and  the  uses  to  which  the  Pythagoreans  and  Platonists 
applied  the  five  regular  solids,  since  termed  Platonic  bodies." 
On  this  last  subject  Mr.  Clarke  wrote  a  dissertation,  which 
may  be  found  in  his  Miscellaneous  Works.  It  will  be  seen 
that  these  questions  do  not,  all  of  them,  come  under  the  de- 
nomination of  strict  philology ;  but  the  wide  sense  in  which 
he  used  that  term  he  indicates  in  an  address  to  the  society, 
where  he  observes,  that  "  philology,  in  the  modern  ac- 
ceptation of  the  word,  is  not  so  properly  a  science  as  an 
assemblage  of  several.  It  includes  grammar,  criticism, 
etymology,  the  interpretation  of  ancient  authors,  poetry, 
rhetoric,  history,  and  antiquites :  in  a  word,  everything  re- 
lating to  ancient  manners,  laws,  religion,  government,  and 
language." 

The  society  met  for  conversation,  discussion,  and  the  con- 
sideration of  written  essays  on  the  various  themes  of  their 
studies.  After  some  time  Mr.  Clarke  found  he  could  state 
that  the  scheme  worked  well,  that  interesting  and  excellent 
papers  were  produced ;  and  that  good  would  be  done  to  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  members. 

As  to  himself,  he  was  working  hard  at  the  Bibliographi- 
cal Dictionary,  (the  first  volume  of  which  he  brought  out  at 
Liverpool,)  and  at  the  Notes  upon  the  Holy  Scriptures.  In 
addition  to  these  more  weighty  undertakings,  he  translated 
the  Dissertation  of  Monsieur  A.  L.  Millin  on  the  Silver 
Disc  which  bears  the  name  of  "  Scipio's  Buckler."  This  was 
subsequently  incorporated  in  his  Miscellaneous  Works. 

Generations  pass  away,  and  the  son  follows  the  parent. 


228  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

As  in  his  last  circuit  Mr.  Clarke  had  been  called  to  mourn 
the  decease  of  his  father,  so  now  another  bereaving  provi- 
dence overtook  him  in  the  removal  of  his  only  brother,  who 
died  at  Maghull,  in  his  forty-fifth  year.  A  biographic  notice 
of  this  beloved  relative,  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Clarke,  states 
that,  after  having  been  brought  up  in  childhood  by  his  uncle, 
the  clergyman  after  whom  he  was  named,  an'd  instructed  in 
the  classics  by  his  father,  he  was  introduced  to  the  medical 
profession,  studying,  after  his  apprenticeship,  at  Trinity, 
Dublin.  He  went  out  as  surgeon  in  "  a  Guinea  ship,"  and 
in  two  voyages  became  a  witness  of  the  complicated  cruelty 
and  villainy  of  the  African  slave-trade,  of  which  he  has  left 
in  his  journals  some  graphic  details.  "  Filled  with  horror 
at  this  inhuman  traffic,  surgeon  Clarke  abandoned  it  after  his 
second  voyage  :  he  married,  and  established  himself  at  Mag- 
hull,  eight  miles  from  Liverpool,"  in  a  wide  neighborhood, 
at  that  time  but  ill-supplied  with  medical  practitioners, 
where  he  had  great  success,  winning  the  confidence  of  the 
people  by  his  skillful  treatment,  his  personal  urbanity,  and 
Christian  rectitude  of  life.  But  his  professional  labors 
multiplied  beyond  his  strength.  At  a  time  when  in  a  deli- 
cate state  of  health,  he  was  called  out  night  after  night  in 
cold  and  tempestuous  weather,  till  his  remaining  strength 
broke  suddenly  down,  and  he  sank  into  a  consumption.  In 
his  last  days  he  was  consoled  by  the  affectionate  attentions 
of  his  brother,  from  whose  holy  counsels  and  earnest  pray- 
ers he  found  most  timely  help  in  passing  through  the  dark 
vale  of  death.  In  a  pocket-book  of  Dr.  Clarke's  there  are 
the  following  memoranda : 

"Sept.  6th,  1803.  I  went  to  see  my  dying  brother.  He 
is  in  a  very  happy  state  of  mind. 

"Sept.  15th.  Went  to  Maghull,  and  gave  the  sacrament 
to  my  dying  brother.  He  is  in  great  pain  of  body,  but 
steadfast  in  his  confidence  in  the  Lord. 

"Sept.  16th.  Preached  at  Aintree,  from  Isaiah  liv, 
13, 14.  My  blessed  brother  died  this  evening  at  nine  o'clock. 

"Sept.  17th.     I  went  over  to  see  my  dear  brother's  re 


THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOR.  229 

mains.  Quantum  mutatus  ab  illo  /"  Changed  indeed.  But 
from  the  sight  would  not  the  minister  of  Christ  feel  fresh 
motive  to  work  while  it  was  yet  with  himself  called  to-day, 
in  making  known  to  dying  men  the  truth  and  grace  of  that 
adorable  Redeemer  who  is  our  refuge,  our  resurrection,  and 
our  life  ? 

After  two  years'  residence  at  Liverpool,  Mr.  Clarke  was 
reappointed  to  Manchester,  where  a  multitude  of  Christians, 
who  had  long  learned  to  value  his  ministry,  gave  him  a  most 
grateful  welcome.  The  opening  sermon  at  Oldham-street 
was  attended  by  a  vast  concourse,  and,  from  what  he  then 
saw  and  felt,  he  had  confidence  that  God  would  be  with  them. 

Some  few  details  come  out  in  a  letter  to  one  of  his  Liver- 
pool friends,  a  little  while  after  his  resettlement  in  Man- 
chester :  "  I  have  a  very  good  garret  for  my  study :  poets, 
you  know,  and  poor  authors,  generally  live  in  such  places. 
I  have  had  shelves  put  up  for  my  books,  and  have  most  of 
them  unpacked  and  carried  up  to  this  sublime  region ;  but 
it  has  been  severe  work,  and  has  fatigued  me  sadly.  The 
books  and  other  things  have  been  much  injured  in  the  car- 
riage ;  upwards  of  twenty  of  my  boxes  were  broken,  though 
they  came  by  His  Grace's  flats  "  (the  Duke  of  Bridgewater's 
canal-boats.)  "  I  am  now  quite  of  poor  Richard's  mind,  that 
three  such  flittings  would  be  equal  to  one  burning.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  heard  Mr.  Heamshaw,  the  young  preacher.  He 
bids  fair,  I  think,  to  make  a  luminous  star  in  the  Church  of 
Christ.  He  has  a  very  pleasing  voice,  a  neat  delivery,  and 
very  decent  language;  his  matter  is  solid,  and  his  doctrine 
sound.  Mr.  Jenkins  you  know ;  the  other  is  Mr.  Pipe. 
He "  (Mr.  Pipe)  "  is  full  of  life  and  zeal,  and  I  should  not 
wonder  if  he  be  esteemed  the  first  man  among  us.  I  like  a 
good  shaking,  and  long  hearty  Amens  among  the  people ; 
but,  between  you  and  me,  there  seems  too  much  of  it  here ; 
and  many,  I  am  afraid,  do  not  distinguish  between  sense 
and  sound — between  the  tornadoes  of  natural  passion  and 
the  meltings  of  religious  affection.  But  I  must  leave  this 
with  God,  the  only  wise  and  good.  May  he  keep  us  right !" 


230  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

In  Manchester,  as  in  other  places,  Mr.  Clarke  showed  the 
value  he  set  on  class-meeting  as  a  means  of  great  help  and 
encouragement  in  the  Christian  life,  by  entering  himself  as  a 
private  member  in  one  of  the  classes.  In  Liverpool  he 
had  raised  a  class  of  his  own ;  but  now,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  "  a  plain,  simple-hearted,  good  man,"  Mr.  Clarke 
found,  as  often  as  his  duties  would  allow  him  to  meet,  that 
he  could  derive  great  profit,  and  reflect  it  again  in  his  min- 
istry, from  communion  with  these  lowly  ones  in  the  flock 
of  the  Lord. 

To  the  Strangers'  Friend  Society,  which,  with  Mr.  Brad- 
burn,  he  had  been  the  means  of  establishing  in  the  town,  he 
turned  his  renewed  attention,  strengthening  and  extending 
its  truly  beneficent  agencies. 

Steady  also  to  his  purpose  in  combining  moral  and  intel- 
lectual culture,  in  making  men  strong  in  whatever  is  good, 
he  opened  his  study  on  stated  mornings  in  the  week  for 
young  men  who  were  desirous  of  instruction  in  the  original 
languages  of  the  Bible,  and  founded  a  society,  like  that 
already  in  operation  at  Liverpool,  for  the  promotion  of 
literary,  scientific,  and  Christian  studies ;  "  to  bring  for- 
ward," as  he  said,  "and  improve  latent  talent,  and  to 
prompt  the  few,  who  were  aiding  and  influencing  each  other, 
to  act  upon  the  million."  Many  men  who  have  lived  not 
in  vain  received  good  impulses  and  helps  in  these  intellect- 
ual fellowships ;  and  among  them  we  may  name  that  emi- 
nent scholar,  diligent  author,  and  excellent  minister  of 
Christ,  the  late  Dr.  James  Townley.*  The  success  attend- 
ing this  institute  was  always  a  subject  of  great  thankful- 
ness to  the  founder ;  and  we  may  here  mention  that,  when 
the  time  came  for  him  to  leave  Manchester,  the  members 
offered  him  a  token  of  their  esteem,  not  only  in  a  verbal 
tribute,  but  by  the  presentation  of  two  massive  silver  cups, 
beautifully  ornamented  with  a  border  of  oak-leaves  round 

*  Died  in  1833  ;  President  of  the  Conference  in  1829 ;  many  years  one 
of  the  General  Secretaries  for  the  Methodist  Missions.  His  antiquarian 
and  bibliographical  works  liave  a  permanent  reputation. 


THE   PREACHER  AND   PASTOR.  231 

the  outer  rim,  and  bearing  the  inscription :  "  Ex  DONO 
SOCIETATIS  PHILOLOGIC^E  MANCUNIENSIS  REVERENDO  ADAMO 
CLARKE,  PR^ESIDI  DILECTISSIMO  ET  DILIGENTISSIMO,  IN  AMI- 
CITI^E  GRATIQUE  ANIMI  PLURIMIS  PRO  MERITIS  TESTIMO- 

NIUM." 

In  his  own  literary  career  Mr.  Clarke  gave  another  token 
of  great  activity,  in  the  publication  of  the  remaining  volumes 
of  the  Bibliographical  Dictionary  (the  preface  of  the  sixth 
volume  bearing  date,  "Manchester,  July  1,  1804;")  and 
also  a  new  and  improved  edition  of  Claude  Fleury's  "  Man- 
ners of  the  Ancient  Israelites,"  a  work  which  found  much 
acceptance  with  the  public. 

As  in  Bristol  and  Liverpool,  so  now  in  Manchester,  the 
silence  of  the  study  was  broken  upon  by  the  voice  of  the 
knell.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clarke  had  to  sustain  the  affliction  of 
seeing  their  beautiful  little  daughter  Agnes  fade  and  die  like 
a  flower.  This  child  had  become  an  object  of  intense  affec- 
tion to  her  father ;  and  the  stroke  which  bereaved  him  was 
so  much  the  more  afflictive.  "  Agnes,"  says  he,  "  was  a 
most  interesting  and  promising  child.  Few  of  her  years 
ever  possessed  a  finer  understanding,  or  a  more  amiable  dis- 
position. She  was  led  to  remember  her  Creator  hi  the  days 
of  her  youth;  she  truly  feared  God,  and  dreaded  nothing 
so  much  as  that  by  which  he  would  be  offended,  and  his 
good  Spirit  grieved.  Young  as  she  was,  it  was  evident  that 
she  possessed  a  pious  heart.  She  loved  prayer,  attended 
public  worship  with  delight,  and  had  such  a  firmness  and 
constancy  of  resolution,  that  nothing  could  make  her  change 
a  purpose  which  she  had  formed,  when  convinced  that  it 
was  right.  .  .  .  God  saw  it  best  to  take  her ;  and,  having  sowed 
in  her  heart  the  good  seed  of  his  kingdom,  took  her  to 
heaven,  where  it  should  bring  forth  all  its  fruits  in  their 
native  soil." 

Twenty  years  afterward  I  find  another  reference,  which 
shows  how  lasting  was  this  love :  "  I  had  a  daughter  called 
Agnes ;  never  was  my  soul  so  wrapped  up  in  a  child.  God 
took  her.  ...  I  had  suffered  so  much  in  her  sufferings,  that 


232  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

the  good  Dr.  Agnew  said,  if  she  had  lived  one  week  longer 
it  must  have  killefl  me.  Agnes  is  still  dear  to  me,  though 
it  is  more  than  twenty  years  since  I  lost  that  lovely 
child." 

The  circumstance  that  two  of  their  children,  Adam  and 
Agnes,  lay  buried  at  Manchester,  created  a  melancholy  tie 
between  the  hearts  of  the  parents  and  that  place ;  but,  while 
nature  dictated  that  mournful  sympathy,  faith,  with  its  sol- 
emn assurances,  strengthened  in  their  souls  a  more  elevated 
sense  of  union  with  the  heavenly  world,  whither  their  be- 
loved ones  had  gone  before  them,  and  where,  henceforth 
exempt  from  death,  the  families  of  the  saved  are  reunited 
in  the  full  possession  of  the  inheritance  which  is  incorrupt- 
ible, and  eternally  their  own. 

Having  completed  his  term  of  service  in  the  Manchester 
Circuit,  Mr.  Clarke,  amid  the  regrets  of  multitudes,  removed 
from  that  city  to  resume  his  labors  in  London,  being  once 
more  appointed  to  the  metropolis  by  the  Conference  of 
1805.  As  the  superintendent  of  the  circuit,  he  went  into 
residence  at  the  Methodist  parsonage  adjoining  the  chapel 
in  City  Road.  Here,  with  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Bogie,  Entwisle, 
J.  Stanley,  and  others  for  his  colleagues,  a  wide  sphere  of 
engagements  opened  to  him.  London  was  still  but  one  cir- 
cuit ;  and  since  his  last  appointment  the  duties  had  become 
yet  more  numerous  by  the  establishment  of  various  other 
preaching-places,  the  building  of  several  new  chapels,  and 
the  increase  of  pastoral  duties  consequent  on  the  formation 
and  increase  of  the  societies  connected  with  them.  And  if, 
at  present,  each  of  the  superintendents  of  the  nine  circuits 
into  which  the  metropolis  is  divided  finds  that  the  multi- 
farious business  of  his  charge  demands  an  incessant  care, 
we  may  easily  conceive  that  Adam  Clarke,  as  the  sole  su- 
perintendent of  the  Methodist  work  in  London,  would  be 
called  to  a  life  of  almost  sleepless  labor.  Yet  his  strength 
was  as  his  day.  By  redeeming  the  early  hours  of  the 
morning,  he  carried  on  the  studies  which  were  yielding  plen- 
teous fruitage  in  his  literary  works ;  and  by  resolute  dili- 


THE   PKEACHER  AND   PASTOR.  233 

gence  he  made  full  proof  of  his  ministry  as  a  preacher  and 
pastor,  maintained  the  financial  resources  of  the  circuit  in 
full  vigor,  and  developed  the  various  capabilities  of  the 
Methodist  system  for  the  promotion  of  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  comfort  of  the  multitudes  over  whom,  by  the 
agency  of  Sunday-school  teachers,  prayer-leaders,  class-lead- 
ers, visitors  of  the  sick,  tract  distributers,  exhorters,  and 
local  preachers,  it  exerts  its  benefic  influence.  Yet  more, 
in  addition  to  all  these  calls  upon  his  time  and  care,  we 
find  him  taking  a  prominent  position  in  some  of  the  great- 
est philanthropic  movements  of  the  age.  Among  these 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  then  recently  formed, 
awoke  a  joyful  enthusiasm  in  his  soul,  which  expressed  it- 
self in  services  to  that  noble  institution  as  lasting  as  his 
life.  At  the  instance  of  Mr.  Butterworth,  who  was  one  of 
its  earliest  members,  he  was  invited  to  take  part  in  its 
great  work,  upon  which  he  entered,  as  we  may  say,  con 
amore,  with  the  relish  of  the  scholar  for  the  philologic  criti- 
cism involved  in  the  undertaking  to  send  forth  the  Bible 
in  the  various  languages  of  mankind,  and  with  the  faith  of 
the  Christian  in  the  power  of  divine  truth,  so  conveyed,  to 
renew  the  world  in  righteousness.  Of  the  ability  and  zeal 
with  which  he  co-operated  in  this  great  design  we  shall 
have  to  give  some  examples  in  the  subsequent  records. 
Suffice  it  here  to  observe,  that  from  his  extensive  oriental 
learning,  his  acquaintance  with  the  verbal  criticism  of  the 
sacred  text,  and  his  sound  judgment  as  a  catholic  theo- 
logian, the  committee  of  the  Bible  Society  found  in  Adam 
Clarke  the  man  they  wanted.  Let  the  reader  mark 
here  what  great  consequences  follow  the  decisions  of  our 
early  life.  When  the  friendless  youth  at  Kingswood 
bought  the  Hebrew  Grammar  with  the  piece  of  coin  found 
in  the  garden,  the  world  itself  was  to  be  the  better  for 
the  event. 

In  his  own  library  at  City  Road,  long  before  the  broad 
mass  of  London  life  had  begun  to  stir  itself  in  a  morning, 
Mr.  Clarke  was  now  diligently  engaged  in  perfecting  for 


234  LIFE  OF    ADAM  CLARKE. 

the  press  the  first  parts  of  his  Commentary,  and  in  supple- 
menting the  six  volumes  of  the  Bibliographical  Dictionary 
by  two  others,  comprising  a  variety  of  topics  connected 
with  those  studies,  to  which  he  gave  the  title  of  "  The 
Bibliographic  Miscellany."  This  work  bears  date,  "  No- 
vember 1,  1806."  Besides  these,  he  lent  powerful  aid  to 
the  editor  of  the  Eclectic  Review,  in  some  articles  on  the 
Septuagint,  and  the  study  of  the  Eastern  languages. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Clarke  felt  very  strong  convictions  on 
the  necessity  of  some  effective  measures  for  the  training  of 
men  of  piety  and  promise  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  in 
the  Methodist  body  ;  which,  with  the  continual  increase  of 
its  members  and  influence  in  the  country,  partook  as  well 
the  educational  advantages  by  which  the  English  intellect 
has  been  so  greatly  elevated  in  the  present  age.  He  saw 
that  an  illiterate  ministry  would  be  inadequate  to  the  wants 
of  the  times ;  and  that,  if  the  pulpits  of  Methodism  were  to 
attract  the  people,  they  must  be  filled  by  men  who  were,  at 
least  on  a  par  with  their  hearers  in  mental  cultivation. 
With  these  impressions,  he  took  an  early  opportunity  of 
bringing  the  subject  under  the  consideration  of  the  preachers 
then  stationed  in  London  ;  and  the  result  of  their  conversa- 
tion he  details  to  Mr.  Butterworth : 

"  We  have  now  a  subject  of  the  ^deepest  concern  before 
us.  We  want  some  kind  of  seminary  for  educating  work- 
men for  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord.  I  introduced  a  conver- 
sation this  morning  upon  the  subject,  and  the  preachers  were 
unanimously  of  opinion  that  some  efforts  should  be  made 
without  delay  to  get  such  a  place  established  either  here  or 
at  Bristol,  where  young  men  who  may  be  deemed  fit  for 
the  work  may  have  previous  instruction  in  theology,  in  vital 
godliness,  in  practical  religion,  and  in  the  rudiments  of 
general  knowledge.  No  person  to  be  permitted  to  go  out 
into  the  work  who  is  not  known  to  be  blameless  in  his  con- 
versation, thoroughly  converted  to  God,  alive  through  the 
indwelling  Spirit,  and  sound  in  the  faith.  Mr.  Benson  said 
be  would  unite  his  whole  soul  in  it,  if  I  would  take  the 


THE  PREACHER  AND  PASTOR.  235 

supeintendence  of  it.  What  can  we  do  to  set  this  matter 
on  foot?  The  people  are  getting  wiser  on  all  sides; 
Socinianism,  and  other  isms  equally  bad,  are  gaming 
strength  and  boldness.  .  .  .  Every  circuit  cries  out,  'Send 
us  acceptable  preachers;'  and  we  are  obliged  to  take  what 
offers,  and  depend  upon  the  recommendation  of  those  who 
can  scarcely  judge,  but  from  the  apparent  fervor  of  a  man's 
spirit.  My  dear  brother,  the  time  is  coming,  and  now  is, 
when  illiterate  piety  can  do  no  more  for  the  interest  and 
permanency  of  the  work  of  God  than  lettered  irreligion  did 
formerly.  The  Dissenters  are  going  to  establish  a  gram- 
mar-school, and  have  sent  about  to  all  our  people,  as  to 
their  own,  for  countenance  and  support.  Would  not  God 
have  our  charity  in  this  respect  to  begin  at  home  ?  Arc 
there  not  many  of  our  people  who  would  subscribe  largely 
to  such  an  institution  ?  If  we  could  raise  enough  for  the 
first  year  for  the  instruction  of  only  six  or  ten  persons, 
would  it  not  be  a  glorious  thing  ?  Perhaps  about  twenty 
would  be  the  utmost  we  should  ever  need  to  have  at  once 
under  tuition,  as  this  is  the  greatest  average  number  we 
should  take  out  in  a  year.  Speak  speedily  to  all  your 
friends,  and  let  us  get  a  plan  organized  immediately ;  let 
us  have  something  that  we  can  lay,  matured,  before  the 
Conference.  God,  I  hope,  is  in  the  proposal ;  and  we  should 
not  promise  our  strength  or  influence  to  others,  till  we  find 
either  that  we  can  do  nothing  for  ourselves,  or  that  nothing 
is  requisite." 

This  desirable  project  could  n,ot  at  that  time  be  accom- 
plished. The  Conference  was  burdened  with  increasing  pe- 
cuniary difficulties,  and  the  resources  of  the  Connection  were 
not  adequate  to  the  task.  At  a  later  day,  however,  (1833,) 
the  scheme  was  carried  into  full  effect,  to  the  great  satisfac- 
tion of  all  enlightened  and  impartial  men  in  the  Methodist 
communion.  A  Theological  Institution  was  founded,  one 
branch  of  which  is  situated  at  Richmond,  Surrey,  and 
the  other  at  Didsbury,  near  Manchester.  Already,  in 
those  sequestered  shades,  hundreds  of  pious  young  men, 


236  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

called  of  God  to  the  work  of  the  Gospel,  have  been 
soundly  trained  for  the  Christian  ministry,  of  which  they 
are  making  worthy  proof  in  various  parts  of  the  world. 
The  divinity  tutors  have  hitherto  been  the  Rev.  Pro- 
fessor Jackson,  for  Richmond,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hannah, 
for  Didsbury. 


THE  PRESIDENT.  237 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE     PRESIDENT. 

IN  these  incessant  engagements  the  year  had  passed  away, 
and  Mr.  Clarke  attended  the  annual  assembly  of  the  preach- 
ers at  Leeds,  in  1806.  On  this  memorable  occasion  he 
was  invested  with  the  highest  honor  his  brethren  in  the  min- 
istry could  confer  upon  him,  in  being  elected  President  of 
the  Conference.  It  will  be  most  pleasant  to  read  such  no- 
tices of  those  days  as  we  find  in  his  own  letters  to  Mrs. 
Clarke. 

One  from  Sheffield,  on  the  way,  acquaints  us  that  his  fel- 
low-travelers were  twenty-two  in  number.  "  I  was  one  of 
three  on  the  box,  with  the  coachman ;  Messrs.  Bradford, 
Cole,  and  Goodwin  were  behind  me  ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Benson, 
inside.  .  .  .  From  every  quarter  I  find  it  is  the  unanimous 
design  of  the  preachers  to  put  me  in  the  chair.  Perhaps 
you  will  be  surprised  when  I  tell  you  that  I  am  absolutely 
determined  not  to  go  into  it.  This  purpose  I  believe  none 
can  shake.  I  have  neither  a  state  of  mind  nor  nerves  for 
such  a  work,  and  I  would  not  take  a  handful  of  guineas  to 
be  obliged  to  preach  the  president's  sermon.  Dr.  Coke 
is  here." 

"  Leeds,  July  25.  We  have  got  almost  through  our  sta- 
tioning work,  and  have  much  order  and  good-will  among 
us.  ...  When  at  Sheffield,  I  read  over  the  Plan  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  young  preachers,  before  Mr.  Holy  and  some 
other  of  the  principal  friends,  who  all  highly  approved  of  it. 
This  day  I  got  Mr.  Moore  to  read  it,  from  whom  I  expected 
considerable  opposition  ;  but  I  was  disappointed,  by  receiv- 
ing from  him  the  following  note  on  the  back  of  the  cover : 

'  A  very  admirable  letter.     It  answers  almost  all  my  ob- 


238  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

jections,  or  rather  my  fears.  If  we  were  such  ministers  as 
we  should  be,  the  pious  who  are  well  informed  and  even 
learned  would  be  glad  to  join  themselves  to  us.'  He  means 
that  many  pious,  well-informed,  and  even  learned  men 
among  our  societies,  and  who  are  local  preachers,  would  be 
glad  to  become  traveling  preachers ;  but  he  contends  that  the 
preachers  have  no  proper  Scriptural  authority,  [all  this 
having  been]  already  given  up  ;  so  that  the  most  vulgar  and 
illiterate  in  a  Leaders'  or  Quarterly  Meeting  can,  by  the 
number  of  heads,  or  show  of  hands,  carry  any  point  of  dis- 
cipline or  doctrine  against  the  preachers.  This  is  certainly 
true,  and  is  a  sore  and  increasing  evil."* 

"July  27.  This  morning,  according  to  appointment,  I 
rode  out  to  Armley,  and  preached  at  ten  o'clock.  The  good 
people  would  have  sent  me  back  on  horseback,  but  I  excused 
myself,  and  walked  home  in  company  with  Messrs.  Bunting, 
Collier,  and  Button.  Brother  Garrett  we  left  behind,  to 
follow  the  blow.  I  have  to  preach  this  evening  again  at  the 
new  chapel.  This  will  be  sore  work.  Mr.  Bradburn 
preached  this  morning  on  Old  Methodism,  and  acquitted 
himself,  I  hear,  very  well.  How  I  shall  get  on,  God 
knows ;  but  I  am  pledged,  and  cannot  recede. 

"  The  people  are  coming  in,  I  am  informed,  from  twenty 
miles'  distance  and  upward.  The  following  will  show  you, 
in  some  measure,  their  spirit  and  temper.  A  Quaker,  air- 
ing himself  in  the  street  by  his  own  house  about  six  in  the 
morning,  saw  a  plain-looking  countryman  covered  with 
dust,  carrying  a  very  large  great  coat,  and  sweating  at  every 
pore.  He  accosted  him;  'Friend,  whither  art  thou  come? 
Thou  appearest  much  fatigued.'  '  I  am  coming  to  th'  Meth- 
odist Conference,'  says  Bluntspurs  ;  'I  am  coom  forty  miles, 
and  ha'  walked  all  t'  night.'  The  Quaker,  struck  with  his 

*In  the  dissensions  which  lately  afflicted  the  Methodist  body,  some  of 
the  antagonists  of  the  Conference  intimated  that,  had  Dr.  Clarke  lived, 
he  would  have  approved  of  the  attempts  then  made  to  deprive  the  min- 
isters of  the  few  remaining  powers  which  are  inherent  in  their  office,  nnd 
necessary  to  the  discharge  of  their  pastoral  duty.  How  far  these  sur- 
mises were  correct,  may  be  learned  from  the  Doctor's  own  words. 


THE   PRESIDENT.  239 

appearance  and  honest  bluntness,  said,  '  Friend,  I  like  thy 
spirit ;  thee  seemest  sincere  and  zealous  in  this  way ;  turn 
in  hither,  and  refresh  thyself;  thou  shalt  be  welcome  to 
what  the  place  can  afford.'  Poor  Gruff  turned  in,  and  found 
a  hearty  welcome.  How  valuable  is  this  simplicity  of 
spirit!  and  how  much  more  happiness  do  these  people 
enjoy,  who  are  taking  God  at  his  word,  than  those  who  are 
disputing  with  their  Maker  himself  every  particle  of  his 
revelation !  Scaliger,  who  understood  thirteen  languages, 
seeing  the  comparative  happiness  of  the  simple  and  ignorant, 
cried  out  once,  '  O  that  I  had  never  known  my  alphabet !' 
But  it  is  probable  that  from  these  as  many  sources  of  com- 
fort are  sealed  up,  as  there  are  causes  of  distress  to  those 
whose  minds  are  cultivated.  I  shall  leave  this  till  after 
preaching.  .  .  . 

"I  am  now  returned  from  preaching  to  some  thousands  ; 
thousands  within,  and  hundreds  without.  To  relieve  the  ex- 
cessive press,  a  preacher  was  obliged  to  stand  up  without, 
while  I  wrought  an  hour  and  fifteen  minutes  within.  At 
the  last  prayer  we  had  an  uncommon  shaking,  and  some  acts 
of  solemn  self-dedication  took  place,  never,  never,  I  hope, 
to  be  forgotten." 

"July  28.  This  morning  our  Conference  began,  and 
the  whole  time  before  breakfast  was  employed  in  filling  up 
the  Deed,  etc.  After  breakfast,  as  I  had  heard  from  all 
quarters  that  they  designed  to  put  me  in  the  chair,  I  ad- 
dressed the  Conference,  and  having  told  them  what  I  had 
understood,  proceeded  to  give  reasons  why  I  could  not  go 
into  the  chair,  and  begged  that  no  brother  would  lose  a  vote 
for  me,  as  my  mind  was  fully  made  up  on  the  business. 
This  produced  a  conversation  I  little  expected.  All  the  old 
preachers  insisted  on  it  that  I  was  at  present  the  proper 
person,  and  entreated  me  not  to  refuse.  I  insisted  upon  it 
that  I  would  not,  and  solemnly  charged  every  one  who  in- 
tended to  vote  for  me  to  give  his  suffrage  to  some  other.  I 
then  wrote  [mine]  for  Mr.  Barber,  and  showed  my  paper  to 
those  about  me,  who  all  followed  my  example.  I  trembled 


240  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

till  this  business  was  concluded  :  and  what  was  the  result  ? 
I  was  chosen  by  a  majority  of  one  half  beyond  the  highest ! 
I  was  called  to  the  chair  in  the  name  of  the  Conference,  and 
refused,  begging  that  the  next  in  number  of  vote  might  take 
it.  We  were  thrown  into  a  temporary  confusion,  during 
which  Mr.  T.  Taylor  and  J.  Bradford  lifted  me  up  by  mere 
force  out  of  my  seat,  and  set  me  upon  the  table  !  I  was 
confounded  and  distressed  beyond  measure,  and,  against  all 
my  resolutions,  was  obliged  to  take  the  seat.  After  recov- 
ering from  my  embarrassment,  I  began  business,  and  have 
conducted  it  hitherto  with  order,  and,  I  believe,  much  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  brethren.  Dr.  Coke  was  chosen  secretary, 
and  between  him  and  Mr.  Bengon  there  was  a  close  run. 
We  are  now  at  the  characters,  and  have  got  through  seventy- 
nine  circuits.  There  are  two  or  three  knotty  cases  in  ref- 
erence to  charges  of  false  doctrine,  which  will  soon  come 

before  us.  .  .  .  I  do  not  see   any  sentence  in 's  book 

which  is  capable  of  bearing  an  evil  construction.  It  is  a 
poor  milksop  production,  and  the  time  and  expense  are 

thrown  away  upon  it.     is  too  high ;  he  has  learned 

to  bear  no  cross  for  Christ's  sake ;  perhaps  he  may  now  be 
schooled  a  little  in  this  necessary  science.  .  .  .  Pray,  pray 
hard  for  me.  I  am  far  from  being  comfortable  in  my  mind. 
The  thought  of  having  to  preach  next  Lord's  day  before  the 
Conference,  and  to  admit  those  who  have  traveled  four  years 
quite  absorbs  my  spirits." 

"July  29.  Having  a  few  moments,  (sitting  on  the  Con- 
ference board,  the  preachers  beginning  to  assemble,)  I  de- 
vote them  to  you.  We  have  gone  on  well.  When  we 
came  to  the  Wakefield  Circuit,  Mr.  Marsden  produced  a  let- 
ter from  Mr.  Pawson,  containing  his  dying  advice  to  the 
Conference.  This  was  read,  and  a  motion  succeeded  that  it 
should  be  printed.  ...  I  have  just  now  got  the  number  of 
the  preachers  present ;  they  amount  to  two  hundred  and  three. 
J.  have  long  walks,  and  sleep,  or  rather  watch,  in  a  front  room 
in  the  noisiest  street  in  Leeds,  in  which  there  is  scarcely  a 
silent  hour  in  the  night.  I  have  not  had  one  night's  rest." 


THE  PRESIDENT.  241 

**  July  30.  We  have  now  got  through  all  the  characters,. 

except 's  for  Pelagianism,  and 's  for  denying  the 

direct  witness  of  the  Spirit.  Mr. has  had  the  ques- 
tions proposed  to  him  which  were  sent  to  Mr. ,  and  has 

answered  all  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  the  Conference. 

Mr. ,  who  was  under  the  same  accusation,  has  had  the 

same  questions  put  to  him,  and  has  not  answered  to  their 
satisfaction.  .  .  .  The  brethren  are  so  incensed  against  evasive 
answers  on  this  subject  that  every  man  has  Argus  eyes. 

The  question  which  I  sent  to  Mr. was  my  own  ;  but 

to-day  it  has  been  adopted  without  variation,  to  be  used  as 
the  test  on  which  the  Pelagain  heretics  should  be  tried. 
There  is  the  utmost  need  to  take  heed  to  our  doctrines.  .  .  . 
1  write  this  while  the  rest  of  their  brethren  are  at  their  tea. 
I  am  nearly  worn  out  with  excessive  exertions." 

"  Aug.  3.  This  morning  I  went  to  the  new  chapel, 
where  the  doctor  (Coke)  was  to  preach.  Long  before 
the  time  it  was  more  than  full.  Many  hundreds  were  stand- 
ing in  the  street  when  I  got  up  to  it.  However,  I  squeezed 
in ;  and  as  it  was  more  than  half  an  hour  before  the  time, 
and  the  doctor  was  not  come,  I  got  a  Prayer  Book,  went 
into  the  desk,  and  began  to  read  prayers.  This  quieted  the 
people.  As  the  press  was  great  at  the  door  and  in  the  street, 
four  preachers  stood  up  in  different  parts,  and  began  to 
preach.  Thus,  instead  of  one,  we  had  five  congregations. 
When  we  had  finished  the  sacrament  [of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
which  was  administered]  to  perhaps  eight  hundred  people, 
we  could  scarcely  get  out,  for  the  afternoon  congregation 
was  waiting  to  get  in.  I  came  home,  and,  having  got  a 
morsel  of  dinner,  am  come  to  scribe  you  a  few  lines,  and  to 
look  for  a  text  for  this  evening.  A  sore  work  lieth  before, 
me,  and  how  I  am  to  get  through  it  I  know  not.  I  will  leave 
this  unconcluded  till  I  return.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  just  returned.  An  amazing  congregation ;  thous- 
ands, without  and  within.  There  was  reason  to  fear  some 
lives  would  be  lost,  the  press  was  so  great.  I  got  on  mid- 
dlingly.  Nearly  all  the  preachers  [were  present.]  I  am 


242  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

now  weary  enough,  and  my  cold  still  bad.  There  is  no 
morning  that  I  am  not  in  the  chapel,  (though  nearly  a  mile 
from  my  lodging)  before  five  o'clock.  What  is  the  use  of 
lying  in  bed  ?  I  cannot  sleep ;  my  eyes  are  like  those  of  a 
ferret.  I  know  not  when  I  shall  be  able  to  sleep  again.  .  .  . 
It  is  said  that  there  are  upward  of  twenty  thousand  stran- 
gers come  into  town.  It  is  like  a  county  town  in  the  time 
of  election.  The  inns  and  private  houses  are  overflowed, 
and  the  streets  everywhere  full." 

"Aug.  6.  This  has  been  a  day  of  very  great  fatigue. 
I  have  been  a  good  part  of  the  afternoon  examining  the 
young  men.  I  had  each  doctrine  to  define  and  explain. 
Though  it  almost  totally  exhausted  me,  I  got  through  with 
precision.  ...  I  have  in  about  half  an  hour  to  go  and  ad- 
mit them  all,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  congregation, 
crowds  of  which  were  rushing  into  the  chapel  before  I  left 
the  Conference  board.  We  are  still  in  great  harmony.  I 
have  nearly  as  much  authority  as  I  could  wish ;  and  when  I 
choose  to  exert  it,  all  I  can  desire.  The  brethren  behave 
exceedingly  well.  I  let  them  feel  only  that  power  with 
which  they  have  invested  me,  and  they  properly  respect  it. 

"  Finding  the  chapel  already  full,  a  half  an  hour  before 
the  time,  I  immediately  began."  He  then  describes  the  or- 
dination service,  as  practised  at  that  time  among  the  Meth- 
odists, and  adds  :  "  I  then  addressed  them  in  a  short  speech 
and  pronounced  the  formal  words  of  reception,  in  the  name 
of  God,  whose  mercy  and  love  they  were  to  proclaim ;  of 
Jesus  Christ,  whose  atonement  they  were  to  witness ;  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  by  whose  influence  they  had  been  thus  far  fitted 
tor  the  ministry,  and  by  whose  unction  they  were  to  alarm, 
convince,  convert,  and  in  holiness  build  up  the  souls  of  men; 
also  in  the  name  of  the  Methodist  Conference,  by  whose  au- 
thority I  acted;  and  in  the  name  of  the  many  thousands 
which  constitute  the  Church  connected  with  them.  Mr.  Moore 
then  prayed,  and  I  pronounced  the  dismissal." 

"  Aug.  7.  [As  to  the  station  for  next  year]  I  am  re- 
turned for  London;  and  may  now  give  up,  as  at  the  highest 


THE   PRESIDENT.  243 

pitch  of  honor  Methodism  can  bestow  upon  me:  President 
of  the  Gjnference,  Superintendent  of  London,  and  Chairman 
of  the  London  District,  all  at  the  same  time.  .  .  .  The  Lord 
knows  I  never  sought  it.  Well,  I  would  rather  have  one 
smile  from  my  Maker  than  all  this  honor,  and  all  the  world 
could  confer  beside. 

"  I  own  I  should  feel  home  very  waste  if  you  were  not 
there  to  receive  me  when  I  come ;  and  yet  I  wish  you  by 
all  means  to  go  and  see  your  mother.  If  I  possibly  can 
after  resting  a  few  days  at  home,  I  shall  rejoice  to  accom- 
pany you  and  Mr.  Butterworth  to  Trowbridge." 

The  duties  of  the  president,  including  extensive  journeys 
in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  incessant  correspondence,  and  a  for- 
midable amount  of  connectional  business,  render  it  necessary 
that  an  additional  preacher  be  stationed  with  him,  as  a 
helper  in  the  ordinary  labors  of  the  circuit.  Among  the 
young  men  who  appeared  at  the  Leeds  Conference  for  ordi- 
nation was  the  Eev.  David  M'Nicoll,  who  preached  at  one 
of  the  services,  and  whose  discourse  gave  the  president  such 
an  idea  of  his  capacity  and  character,  as  to  determine  his 
choice  of  an  assistant  for  the  coming  year.  "  I  have  heard 
Mr.  M'Nicoll,"  says  he,  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Clarke,  "  this 
morning  at  five.  He  is  a  wonderful  fellow.  Though  a 
Scotchman,  he  has  excellent  language,  and  such  a  flow  of 
words  as  you  have  seldom  heard.  He  will  infallibly  bear 
the  bell  in  London.  Your  husband  can,  I  believe,  dig  much 
deeper  ;  but  he  certainly  cannot  fly  so  high."  And  again, 
speaking  of  the  men  received  into  full  connection  :  "  David 
M'Nicoll,  who  is  coming  to  London,  was  one  of  them  ;  and 
in  a  very  neat  lively  and  elegant  manner,  he  testified  of  the 
hope  that  was  in  him."  Nor  was  the  president  disappointed 
in  this  high  estimate.  Mr.  M'Nicoll  gave  early  indications 
of  a  genius  which,  cultivated  in  after  years  by  a  most  ex- 
tensive acquaintance  with  the  best  literature  in  the  English 
language,  made  him  one  of  the  first  preachers  of  the  day. 
The  blandness  of  his  natural  disposition,  his  vivid,  yet  well- 
governed  imagination,  his  fascinating  musical  talent,  his 


244  LIFE  OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

wealth  of  information,  and  the  artless  simplicity  of  his  man- 
ners, rendered  him  one  of  the  most  amiable  companions ; 
while  the  moral  virtues  of  his  heart  and  life,  and  the  power 
which  attended  his  pulpit  ministrations,  commanded  homage 
as  well  as  affection.* 

After  the  exertions  of  the  Conference,  Mr.  Clarke  availed 
himself  of  a  few  days  relaxation,  making  one  of  a  family 
party  in  a  tour  into  Wiltshire.  In  a  series  of  well  written 
letters  to  his  son  Theodoret,  he  describes  the  most  remark- 
able scenes  and  objects  which  attracted  their  attention.  Mr. 
Butterworth,  who  was  chief  mover  in  the  affair,  had  pro- 
vided two  carriages  ;  and  they  set  out  for  Devizes,  from 
thence  over  Salisbury  Plain,  where  the  sight  of  shepherds, 
with  their  flocks  and  dogs  gave  him  huge  delight.  They 
visited  Stonehenge  ;  and  then  Wilton  House,  the  seat  of  the 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  with  its  rare  collections  of  coins  and  an- 
tique sculptures,  and,  without,  its  romantic  vistas,  temples, 
groves,  and  gardens ;  a  spot  which  altogether  won,  as  he 
says,  his  warm  attachment.  "  We  returned,"  he  writes,  "  to 
our  inn,  and  partook  of  a  most  comfortable  dinner.  We 
were  all  as  hungry  as  Greenland  bears.  I  have  seldom 
needed  a  meal  so  much,  and  have  not  been  often  more  thank- 
ful to  God  for  one."  On  the  road  to  Wilton  they  passed 
by  the  church  where,  as  he  says,  ""that  blessed  man  of  God 
Mr.  Herbert  (the  poet)  formerly  preached.  It  is  entirely  sur- 
rounded with  very  fine  tall  yew-trees,  and  the  mere  sight  of  the 
place  impressed  my  mind  with  solemnity  and  reverence." 

The  next  place  was  Wardour  Castle,  the  seat  of  the  Earl 
of  Arundel.  The  paintings  here  riveted  his  attention ;  one 
of  them  especially,  "  The  Saviour  after  Death,"  by  Spagno- 
letto.  "  He  (the  Saviour)  is  represented  as  just  taken 
down  from  the  cross  ;  the  countenance  indescribably  expres- 

*  After  a  splendid  ministerial  career,  Mr.  M'Nicoll  died  suddenly  at 
Liverpool,  in  1836.  A  noble  tribute  to  the  virtues  of  his  intellectual  and 
Christian  character  has  been  given  in  a  discourse  preached  and  published 
on  the  occasion  by  his  friend  and  colleague,  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  Dixon. 
His  Works,  with  a  biography,  have  been  edited  by  his  son,  Dr.  M'Nicoll. 


THE   PRESIDENT.  245 

sive  of  death,  and  yet  highly  dignified ;  fully  verifying  the 
words,  '  No  man  taketh  my  life  from  me  :'  'I  give,  up  my 
life  for  the  sheep :'  for  though  he  groaned  and  gave  up  the 
ghost,  after  he  had  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  yet  it  could  not 
be  said  of  him — 

Vitaque  cum  gemitu  fugit  indignata  sub  umbras. 

No ;  you  could  see  that  he  was  '  free  among  the  dead,'  free 
— at  liberty  to  resume  his  life  whenever  he  pleased,  as  he 

had  given  it  up  according  to  his  own  good  pleasure 

The  family  chapel  is  one  of  the  most  solemn  little  build- 
ings I  ever  saw.  It  is  laid  out  in  the  Romish  taste ;  two 
lamps  perpetually  burning  before  the  altar  on  which  is 
placed  a  costly  crucifix.  Through  a  window  of  stained 
glass  a  sufficient  measure  of  light  makes  every  object  visible 
enough  in  conjunction  with  the  lamps  ;  indeed  the  mixture 
of  these  two  lights  produces  a  sort  of  illumination  which 
partakes  at  once  of  the  cheerfulness  of  day  and  the  solem- 
nity of  night.  .  .  .  He  who  can  enter  a  place  dedicated  to 
the  worship  of  God  as  he  does  into  his  own  habitation  or 
that  of  his  horses,  has  (in  my  opinion)  no  proper  notion  of 
religious  worship,  and  is  never  likely  to  derive  much  edifi- 
cation from  his  attendance  on  the  ordinances  of  God.  .  .  . 
Another  thing  impressed  us — the  number  of  religious  books 
which  we  saw  in  every  apartment ;  such  as  the  History  of 
the  people  of  God,  the  Imitation  of  Christ,  etc.,  and  all  these 
books  seemed  as  if  they  were  in  frequent  use." 

In  the  progress  of  their  tour  they  came  to  the  village  of 
Amesbury.  "  It  is  situated  among  the  hills,  in  a  chalky  soil, 
and  is  neat,  dry,  and  clean ;  there  is  one  inn,  the  George, 
which,  much  to  our  satisfaction,  afforded  us  a  tolerable  sup- 
per and  beds.  Almost  our  first  inquiry  was,  '  Are  there 
any  religious  people  here1?' "  The  waiter,  who  was  "an  in- 
telligent man,"  directed  them  to  some  whom  he  considered 
such,  and  to  one,  as  the  leader  of  the  rest,  a  baker,  named 
.Edwards.  "Determined  to  find  this  ecclesiastical  baker, 
we  sallied  out.  It  was  a  fine  moonlight  evening.  I  rapped 


246  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

at  his  door,  and  asked  to  see  Mr.  Edwards.  He  came,  and 
invited  us  in.  We  entered,  and  told  him  we  were  strangers 
in  the  country,  and  that,  on  inquiring  whether  there  were 
any  religious  people  in  the  village,  we  had  been  directed  to 
him.  As  soon  as  we  sat  down,  I  asked  him  to  what  class  of 
religious  people  he  belonged.  He  replied, '  To  Mr.  Wesley's 
people.'"  After  some  conversation,  "we  were  so  pleased 
with  the  worthy  coupla,  that  we  invited  them  to  sup  with 
us  'at  our  inn,  where  we  spent  a  comfortable  hour  together." 
The  Sabbath  was  spent  by  the  tourists  in  Bradford,  where 
Mr.  Clarke  preached  in  the  morning  to  a  large  and  deeply 
attentive  congregation.  Some  of  the  old  people  had  heard 
him  years  before,  when  he  came  to  their  circuit  in  his  novitiate. 
Refreshed  and  strengthened  in  mind  and  body  by  this 
pleasant  excursion,  Mr.  Clarke  resumed  his  duties  in  London 
with  renewed  vigor.  "  In  labors  "  he  was  "  more  abundant," 
and  his  influence  became  greater  every  day.  We  read  that 
"  to  him  that  hath  shall  be  given ;"  and  the  subject  of  our 
memoir,  in  being  faithful  to  the  talents  confided  to  him, 
became  more  and  more  enriched  with  those  heavenly 
gifts  which  rendered  him  in  the  pulpit  an  apostle  indeed ;  in 
the  study  an  instructor  not  of  the  ignorant  only,  but  of  the 
learned  too ;  and  in  life  "  an  example  of  the  believers,  in 
word,  in  conversation,  in  charity,  in  spirit,  in  faith,  in  purity." 
Not  only  in  his  own  communion  was  he  regarded  with  affec- 
tionate reverence  and  homage,  but  in  the  Church  at  large ; 
and  among  the  highest  literary  circles  his  character  had 
begun  to  be  known  and  admired.  Some  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  the  day,  as  Roscoe,  Porson,  Lord  Teign- 
mouth,  Charles  Butler,  and  Morrison  of  China,  found  pleas- 
ure and  profit  in  his  conversation  and  correspondence.  A 
sermon  on  some  public  occasion  would  gather  round  his 
pulpit  one  of  the  most  choice  congregations  in  London  ;  and 
a  new  work  from  his  pen  was  welcomed  with  thankful  re- 
spect by  the  good  and  by  the  great.  Of  this  universal  senti- 
ment of  esteem  the  senate  of  the  university  of  Aberdeen 
only  gave  a  suitable  expression  when  they  conferred  upon 


THE   PKESIDENT.  247 

him,  in  January,  1807,  the  diploma  of  Master  of  Arts;  and, 
thirteen  months  afterward,  created  him  Doctor  of  Civil  and 
Canon  Law.  These  honors  had  been  already  merited ;  but 
the  university  knew  that  the  man  who  was  now  invested 
with  them  gave  pledges  of  yet  greater  things,  which  would 
more  abundantly  vindicate  their  judgment  of  him,  and  con- 
tribute to  the  honor  of  the  learned  body  who  had  enrolled 
him  among  their  associates. 

One  of  the  verifications  of  these  prognostics  made  its  ap- 
pearance in  the  following  September,  in  the  "  Concise  View 
of  Sacred  Literature  " — a  work  in  which  the  learned  author 
gives  an  analytical  account  of  the  great  masterpieces  of  re- 
ligious teaching,  from  the  earliest  times  down  to  the  middle 
of  the  fourth  century  ;  with  the  intention  of  resuming  and 
completing  the  course  in  a  subsequent  volume :  a  purpose 
which,  in  process  of  time,  was  carried  out  with  ability  by 
his  son,  the  Rev.  J.  B.  B.  Clarke.  A  treatise  on  the  Chris- 
tian Eucharist,  and  an  edition  of  Harmer's  Observations  on 
the  Scriptures,  were  also  at  this  time  in  progress ;  but  Dr. 
Clarke's  main  efforts  turned  on  the  great  labor  of  his  literary 
life,  his  own  Commentary  on  the  Bible. 

At  the  Liverpool  Conference,  in  1807,  Dr.  Clarke  was 
thankful  to  surrender  the  presidential  seal  into  the  hands  of 
the  Rev.  John  Barber,  his  successor  in  office,  and  to  receive 
from  his  brethren  the  cordial  expression  of  their  approval 
of  the  spirit  and  manner  in  which  he  had  fulfilled  his  duties. 
Anxious  to  promote  the  temporal  as  well  as  the  spiritual 
interests  of  his  fathers  and  brethren  in  the  ministry,  he  intro- 
duced to  the  attention  of  the  Conference  at  this  session  a 
measure  which  he  had  closely  meditated,  and  the  adoption 
of  which  would,  as  he  conceived,  be  the  means  of  affording 
substantial  consolation  to  many  of  the  preachers  who  in 
future  years  should  be  found  in  age  and  decay  without  the 
means  of  temporal  support.  The  plan,  indeed,  was  not 
adopted ;  but  it  has  a  record  here,  to  illustrate  the  large  and 
liberal  thoughts  of  him  who  devised  it.  We  will  give  the 
piiptM-  as  it  proceeded  from  his  own  pen  : 


248  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

"BISM1LLAIII  ARAIIHANI  AKKAHEEMI!* 

"  Taking  into  consideration  the  very  desolate  state  of  the 
superannuated  preachers  and  widows  in  the  Methodist  Con- 
nection, and  well  knowing  that  the  provisions  made  by  the 
Preachers'  Annuitant  Society  must  in  every  case  fall  very 
far  short  of  even  providing  them  with  the  necessaries  of  life, 
it  is  proposed — 

"  1 .  That  an  asylum"  or  college  be  erected  with  as  much 
speed  as  possible  for  the  reception  of  superannuated  preach- 
ers, and  the  widows  of  those  who  have  died  in  our  Lord's 
work. 

"  2.  That  the  asylum  be  erected  in  the  vicinity  of  some 
large  town,  in  a  healthy  situation,  where  the  necessaries  of 
life  may  be  found  cheap. 

"3.  That  the  asylum  consist  of houses,  each  con- 
taining a  sitting-room,  two  lodging-rooms,  a  study,  a  small 

kitchen,  and  a  garden, feet  long,  and  the  breadth  of  the 

house. 

"4.  That  the  building  enclose  a  large  square  of feet; 

and  that  a  commodious  chapel,  for  the  use  of  the  institution 
and  the  vicinity,  bo,  built  in  the  center  or  one  end  of  the 
square. 

"5.  That  the  place  itself  be  taken  in  by  the  traveling 
preachers,  as  one  of  the  regular  places  of  the  circuit  where 
it  is  situated ;  and  that  all  the  residents  in  the  asylum  shall 
meet  regularly  is  class,  and  be  subject  to  all  the  rules,  reg- 
ulations, etc.,  common  to  the  Methodist  Societies. 

"  6.  That  no  person  shall  be  entitled  to  a  place  in  this 
college  who  has  not  been  a  regular  traveling  preacher  for 
the  space  of  twenty  years,  and  who  has  not  been  declared 
superannuated  by  the  Conference  merely  on  account  of  such 
bodily  infirmities  as  render  it  impossible  for  him  to  con- 
tinue in  his  work. 

"  7.  That  no  widow  be  admitted  who  has  not  been  the 
wife  of  a  traveling  preacher  for  at  least  twenty  years,  or 
*  "  In  the  Name  of  God,  the  Most  Merciful,  the  Most  Compassionate  !" 


THE   PRESIDENT.  249 

has  not  traveled  with  her  husband  during  that  time,  or  has 
not  maintained  an  unblemished  character. 

"  8.  That  if  any  of  the  widows  re-marry  with  one  of  the 
superannuated  preachers,  she  shall  go  to  the  apartments  of 
her  husband ;  but  should  she  marry  with  a  person  who  is 
not  a  resident  in  the  asylum,  she  shall  leave  it. 

"9.  That  each  family  have  the  house  free  of  rent  and 
taxes,  and  a  certain  sum  be  allowed  annually  for  coals 
and  candles. 

"  10.  That  the  superannuated  preachers  and  widows  resi- 
dent in  the  asylum  have  the  whole  of  the  annuity  which  they 
can  legally  claim  from  the  preachers'  fund,  independent  of 
of  all  the  privileges  and  advantages  arising  from  their 
residence. 

"11.  That  no  preacher  or  widow  be  obliged  to  enter 
this  institution,  or  be  entitled  to  its  privileges,  not  being 
resident  in  it,  unless  there  be  no  room  for  any  proper  claim- 
ant, and  the  funds  be  in  such  a  state  as  to  enable  the  man- 
agers to  grant  a  certain  portion  of  help  to  such  persons. 

"  12.  That  the  principal  friends  throughout  the  Connection 
be  solicited  for  subscriptions  to  purchase  freehold  premises, 
on  which  to*  erect  the  necessary  buildings." 

This  programme  was  supplemented  with  the  following 
postscript :  "  The  preceding  plan  was  laid  before  the  Con- 
ference by  Brother  Clarke;  and  he  was  required  by  the 
Conference  to  write  an  Address  to  the  members  and  friends 
of  the  Societies,  accompanied  with  the  plan,  soliciting  sub- 
scriptions for  the  above  laudable  purpose  ;  and  the  Confer- 
ence order  that  the  Address  and  Plan  be  printed  in  the  Min- 
utes and  Magazine. 

"  J.  BARBER,  President. 
"T.  COKE,  Secretary.'1'1 

At  this  Conference  Dr.  Clarke  was  appointed,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Benson,  to  draw  up  a  compend 
of  Methodist  doctrines,  confirmed  by  Scripture,  and  illus- 


250  LIFE  OF    ADAM  CLARKE. 

trated  from  the  writings  of  Mr.  Wesley.  This  was  accord- 
ingly compiled,  and  a  copy  sent  to  the  chairman  of  every 
district  for  the  consideration  of  the  preachers. 

As  the  time  drew  on  when,  according  to  the  usages  of 
Methodism,  Dr.  Clarke  would  have  to  leave  the  metropolis, 
the  Committee  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  ex- 
pressed their  sense  of  the  value  of  his  services  to  that  great 
institution  by  an  official  request  to  the  Conference,  that  the 
general  custom  might  in  his  case  be  pretermitted.  To  this 
unusual  application,  so  honorable  to  each  of  the  parties,  the 
Conference,  from  an  earnest  desire  to  promote  the  interests 
of  the  Bible  Society,  gave  their  full  consent.  In  the  course 
of  the  year  Dr.  Clarke  removed  from  City  Road,  and  took 
up  his  residence  at  the  Surrey  Institution,  to  the  librarianship 
of  which  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  nominated  under  the 
circumstances  disclosed  in  the  following  extract  from  a  cor- 
respondence on  the  subject  with  Mr.  Butterworth  : 

"  Whether  I  propose  myself  for  librarian  to  the  Surrey 
Institution,  or  permit  another  to  do  so,  is  nearly  the  same 
thing.  It  is  a  fixed  principle  with  me  never  to  be  a  candi- 
date for  a  public  office,  either  in  Church  or  State  ;  and  from 
this  I  have  never  swerved.  My  heart  is  in  every  literary 
institution  :  I  believe  they  are  all  ordered  in  the  Divine 
providence.  Perhaps  I  am  as  weil  qualified,  in  many  re- 
spects, for  the  office,  as  I  am  for  any  of  those  I  now  fill.  I 
must  contine  in  London  another  year."  In  short,  he  left  the 
matter  with  the  authorities  of  the  Institution,  and  they 
elected  him. 

Invested  with  the  office,  he  confronted  its  duties  with  his 
usual  decision.  "  Mark,"  says  he,  "  I  have  all  the  books  in 
both  libraries  to  provide :  I  have  to  travel  from  shop  to 
shop,  to  examine  books,  to  compare  prices  before  I  purchase, 
I  have  lectures,  and  the  plan  of  lectures,  and  even  their  mat 
ter,  to  arrange :  I  have  to  construct  the  whole  machine, 
and  to  give  it  proper  momentum  and  direction ;  to  be 
incessant  in  labor,  and  to  employ  all  my  bibliographical 
and  philosophical  knowledge  in  those  things ;  and,  as  I 


THE   PKESIDENT.  251 

have  taken  them  in  hand,  I  shall  do  them,  if  God  spare 
my  life." 

Among  the  smaller  pieces  which  Dr.  Clarke  published  at 
this  time,  was  a  memoir  of  the  last  hours  of  that  distin- 
guished scholar,  Professor  Person ;  a  notice  which  details 
some  literary  conversation  which  the  writer  had  with  the 
illustrious  Grecian,  on  some  points  relating  to  the  archae- 
ology of  his  favorite  language.  Another  biographical  sketch 
was  written  for  the  Wesleyan  Magazine.  It  refers  to  a 
man  as  eminent  for  the  sanctity  of  his  life  as  the  subject  of 
the  former  memoir  was  remarkable  for  his  attainments  in 
Greek  scholarship — the  Rev.  John  Pawson.  This  little 
piece  will  be  always  read  with  refreshment  and  edification 
by  those  who  know  anything  of  the  power  of  religion  in  the 
soul.  It  presents  a  graphic  portraiture  of  "  a  man  of  irre- 
proachable integrity,  of  unspotted  life,  and  of  very  extensive 
usefulness.  As  he  honored  God  with  his  body,  soul,  and 
substance,  so  God  honored  him  by  giving  him  the  highest 
affection  and  confidence  of  his  Church  and  people  ;  with  an 
unction  and  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  such  a 
victory  and  triumph  over  sin,  death,  and  the  grave,  as  would 
have  been  glorious  even  in  the  apostolic  times." 

The  labors  of  Dr.  Clarke  in  the  field  of  English  history, 
in  accomplishing  the  redaction  of  a  great  portion  of  Rymer's 
Fcedera,  will  claim  a  more  particular  review  in  another 
chapter.  I  only  refer  to  the  subject  here  to  notice  a  trans- 
action in  which  he  was  engaged  about  this  time,  in  the  pur- 
chase of  the  diplomatic  and  private  papers  of  Sir  Andrew 
Mitchell,  English  ambassador  to  the  court  of  Berlin  during 
the  seven  years'  war.  It  was  judged  that  documents  which 
immediately  related  to  a  period  so  eventful  should  not  be 
allowed  to  perish ;  and  Dr.  Clarke  was  requested  to  nego- 
tiate for  their  purchase,  on  behalf  of  the  trustees  of  the  Cot- 
tonian  Library  at  the  British  Museum.  He  obtained  the 
papers  for  £400  ;  and,  on  his  delivering  them  personally  at 
the  Museum,  they  were  sealed  up  for  thirty  years,  (accord- 
ing to  the  usual  agreement  in  such  cases,)  to  obviate  injuri- 


252  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

ous  results  to  private  or  public  parties  who  might  be  in- 
volved in  the  secrets  of  the  transactions  recorded  in  them. 
I  may  add  here,  from  the  family  memorandum,  that  at  the 
termination  of  this  business  Sir  William  Forbes,  at  whose 
instance  it  had  been  undertaken,  inquired  of  a  friend  of  the 
doctor,  what  compensation  he  should  make  to  him  for  his 
trouble ;  but  he  was  assured  by  that  friend  (Robert  Eden 
Scott,  Esq.)  that  Dr.  Clarke  would  be  found  above  receiv- 
ing remuneration  for  acts  of  that  kind.  Sir  William 
therefore  contented  himself  with  presenting  to  the  doc- 
tor a  copy  of  the  Nova  Reperta  Inscriptionum  Anti- 
quarum,  with  a  record  on  the  fly-leaf  expressive  of  the 
donor's  regard. 

The  same  characteristic  of  disinterestedness  shows  itself 
in  the  manner  in  which  he  fulfilled  the  duties  of  librarian 
at  the  Surrey  Institution.  Finding  that  they  were  really 
incompatible  with  the  momentous  undertakings,  ministerial 
and  literary,  in  which  his  whole  existence  should  be  ab- 
sorbed, he,  at  the  end  of  ten  months'  service,  relinquished 
the  situation,  and  refused  to  receive  the  salary.  The  coun- 
cil of  the  Institution  attested  their  admiration  of  his  import- 
ant and  generous  services,  by  installing  him  as  permanent 
honorary  librarian  to  the  Society.  Dr.  Clarke  now  re- 
moved his  residence  to  Harpur-street,  Bloomsbury. 

In  the  department  of  Biblical  literature,  in  addition  to 
some  extensive  engagements  on  behalf  of  the  Bible  Society, 
he  took  a  zealous  part  in  the  measures  adopted  by  the  late 
Rev.  Josiah  Pratt,  B.D.,  for  a  new  edition  of  the  London 
Polyglot.  At  the  request  of  Lord  Teignmouth,  Dr.  Bur- 
gess, bishop  of  St.  David's,*  and  some  other  friends  of  this 

*  "  I  had  on  Monday  between  two  and  three  hours'  conversation  with 
Lord  Teignmouth  and  the  bishop  of  St.  David's.  It  was  indeed  very  in- 
teresting, and  the  bishop  was  mightily  pleased ;  so  was  Lord  Teign- 
mouth. The  bishop  is  to  lay  the  project  before  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, the  Bishop  of  Durham,  and  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury.  Lord 
Teignmouth  is  to  lay  it  before  Lord  Granville,  Earl  Spencer,  and  several 
others.  Never  did  a  project  seem  to  have  a  fairer  prospect.  Mr.  Pratt 
and  I  were  deputed  to  draw  up  a  short  account,  with  a  specimen,  and  get 


THE   PRESIDENT.  253 

undertaking,  he  furnished  a  specimen  sheet  in  royal  folio, 
and  another  in  octavo.  This,  under  the  title  of  "  A  Plan 
and  Specimen  of  Biblia  Polyglotta  Britannica  ;  or,  an  en- 
larged and  improved  Edition  of  the  London  Polyglot  Bible, 
with  Castel's  Heptaglot  Lexicon,"  was  printed  and  circulated 
among  the  literati  at  home  and  abroad.  But  this  noble  and 
much  needed  enterprise  came  to  nothing,  for  want  of  adequate 
patronage.  A  copy  of  the  prospectus  may  be  found  in  the 
British  Museum. 

But  the  time  had  now  come  in  which  Dr.  Clarke's  long 
preparatory  labors  enabled  him  to  present  to  the  world  the 
first  part  of  his  own  edition  of  the  English  Bible,  with  the 
Commentary  which  has  given  him  a  lasting  name  among 
the  great  Biblical  teachers  of  the  Church.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  year  he  put  forth  a  prospectus  of  the  work,  which  ex- 
cited general  attention,  and  not  the  less  on  account  of  a  con- 
troversial paper  from  the  Rev.  Thomas  Scott,  (himself  one 
of  the  most  valuable  of  the  English  annotators  on  the 
Bible,)  who,  in  "The  Christian  Observer,"  impugned  the 
statement  that  Dr.  Clarke  had  made  in  the  prospectus,  that 
the  Septuagint  was  the  version  to  which  our  Lord  and  his 
apostles  had  constant  recourse,  and  from  which  they  made 
all  their  quotations.  The  animadversions  of  this  respected 
clergyman  were  answered  by  Dr.  Clarke,  through  the  me- 
dium of  the  same  journal,  in  a  paper  which  has  been  re- 
printed in  his  Miscellaneous  Works.  In  the  month  of  July 
following,  the  first  portion  of  the  Commentary  made  its  ap- 
pearance, and  was  soon  in  the  hands  not  only  of  the  reading 
people  in  the  doctor's  own  religious  communion,  (among 
whom  it  received  an  enthusiastic  welcome,)  but  of  a  multi- 
tude of  the  eminent  and  pious  in  every  branch  of  the  Christ- 
ian Church. 

All  this  while  the  Methodist  preacher  was  not  merged 
and  lost  in  the  man  of  letters,  and  the  companion  of  peers 

it  printed.  We  have  it  already  at  the  press.  There  is  little  doubt  of  our 
having  His  Majesty  as  patron,  and  the  weightiest  part  of  the  bench  of 
bishops,  and  the  lords  temporal."  (Letter  to  Mrs.  Clarke,  May,  1810.) 


25-i  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

and  prelates.  In  this  respect  Dr.  Clarke  was  evermore  the 
same  man ;  he  dwelt  among  his  own  people,  and  with  heart 
and  hand  labored  with  his  brethren  for  the  promotion  of  the 
cause  of  Christ  in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  the  edifica- 
tion of  the  Church  redeemed  by  his  precious  blood ;  in  the 
advancement  of  which  both  he  and  they  found  their  peace, 
and  glory,  and  joy.  We  have,  indeed,  but  few  documents 
relating  to  his  circuit-work  at  this  period ;  but  here  and 
there  in  a  letter  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  his  manner  of  life. 
"  I  was  up  this  morning  about  four,  and  fagged  till  about  a 
quarter  past  five,  and  then  had  to  walk  to  City  Road  to  at- 
tend the  meeting  at  six."  So  far  were  the  interests  of 
Methodism  from  being  slighted  by  Dr.  Clarke,  they  were 
advanced  by  the  steps  of  his  own  progress.  His  pulpit 
ministry  was  now  in  its  effulgent  meridian,  and  the  growing 
influence  of  his  name  attracted  many  to  the  chapels  in  the 
metropolis  who  might  otherwise  have  been  strangers  to 
them  all  their  days. 

So,  wherever  he  went,  in  his  occasional  journeys,  crowds 
assembled  round  the  pulpit  where  he  was  to  preach  even  a 
passing  sermon.  Thus  at  St.  Austell,  in  a  tour  which  he 
took  into  the  west  in  the  autumn :  "  Short  as  the  notice 
was,  we  had  the  chapel  quite  full,  and  several  of  the  princi- 
pal gentry  made  part  of  the  congregation.  I  preached  on 
Ephesians  iii,  13,  etc. ;  and  though  very  weak,  and  quite 
fagged  out,  spoke  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes.  I  met  here 
many  of  my  old  friends,  but  the  greater  number  are 
dead. 

"  We  got  to  Camelford  late  in  the  evening,  and  were  fol- 
lowed by  some  of  the  principal  of  our  St.  Austell  friends, 
among  whom  are  Mrs.  Flamank  and  Mr.  S.  Drew.  Many 
more  were  to  set  off  to-day,  to  be  present  at  the  preaching 
to-morrow ;  but  the  incessant  rain  must  render  it  impracti- 
cable. The  floods  wash  the  sides  of  the  room  where  I  am 
now  writing,  and  are  so  high  in  the  streets,  that  [the  com- 
munication between]  the  upper  and  lower  parts  of  the  town 
is  cut  off.  I  am  to  preach  here  twice  to-morrow,  and  on 


THE    PRESIDENT.  255 

Monday  morning  to  leave  for  Launceston,  Exeter,  etc. 
Should  I  stay  here  any  longer,  I  should  have  invitations 
from  every  part  of  Cornwall.  If  eating  and  drinking  could 
make  us  happy,  it  would  be  enjoyed  here  in  perfection ;  the 
finest  salmon  in  the  world  for  sixpence  per  pound ;  whitings, 
several  pounds'  weight,  for  twopence  each ;  large  rabbits  a 
shilling  a  couple;  and  so  of  other  things.  Here  a  man 
may  maintain  a  large  family  with  a  small  income.  Will 
you  come,  and  let  your  poor  husband  get  out  of  that  world 
to  live  in  which  he  was  never  calculated  ?  I  corrected  a  re- 
vise this  morning,  and  sent  off  by  post.  There  are  a  few 
memoranda  in  it  directed  to  Theo.  I  do  not  get  much  sleep 
at  night,  and  this  does  not  agree  with  me.  I  am  seldom 
contented  when  from  home,  which  prevents  me  from  getting 
much  benefit  when  abroad.  The  man  lives  ill  at  home  who 
rejoices  to  go  abroad  and  returns  to  his  family  with  reluct- 
ance. So  it  never  was  with  me.  I  have  been  obliged  to 
get  the  shoes,  soled  by  Mr. before  I  came  away,  re- 
soled. The  soles  put  on  by  him  were  not  worth  two- 
pence." 

We  are  not  fastidious  enough  to  reject  these  little  details. 
The  critic  well  says,  that  "  biography  is  useless  which  is 
not  true  to  life.  Even  the  weaknesses  of  character  must  be 
preserved,  however  insignificant  or  humbling.  The  jest- 
book  of  Tacitus,  the  medicated  drinks  of  Bacon,  the  prepar- 
atory violin  of  Bourdaloue,  and  the  fancy -lighting  damsons 
of  Dryden,  have  their  place  and  value.  They  are  the  errata 
of  genius,  and  clear  up  the  text.  A  French  mathematician 
had  doubts  about  the  animal  wants  of  Newton,  and  was  dis- 
posed to  regard  him  as  an  intellectual  being  in  whom  the 
mind's  flame  had  absorbed  each  grosser  particle.  It  is  cer- 
tainly a  precipitous  fall  from  dividing  a  ray  of  light,  or 
writing  Comus,  to  weariness  and  dinner.  But  biography 
admonishes  pride,  when  it  displays  Salmasius  shivering  un- 
der the  eyes  of  his  wife,  or  bids  us  stand  at  the  door  of 
Milton's  academy  and  hear  the  work  of  the  ferule  up-stairs. 
It  steals  on  the  poet  and  the  premier  in  their  undress — Cow- 


256  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

ley,  in  dressing-gown  and  slippers ;  Cecil,  with  his  treasur- 
er's robe  on  the  chair;"  and,  as  we  may  add,  on  Adam 
Clarke,  looking  ruefully  on  the  unstable  foundation  of  his 
shoes. 

"  Camelford.  I  have  finished  my  Sunday's  work. 
Preached  this  morning,  and  gave  the  sacrament.  Mr.  Drew 
preached  in  the  afternoon,  and  I  again  at  night.  I  assure 
you  those  were  high  times.  The  day  was  very  fine,  and 
the  people  flocked  together  from  all  quarters.  At  the  eve- 
ning service  Mr.  Butterworth  and  Mr.  Johnson  were  so 
affected,  that  they  were  almost  on  the  eve  of  making  a  glo- 
rious noise ;  and  the  latter  was  just  going  to  break  out  in 
prayer,  when  prevented  by  the  blessing  being  pronounced. 
This  visit  has  done  many  great  good.  It  is  strange,  but  the 
chief  members,  in  almost  all  the  societies  round  about,  were 
convinced  and  brought  to  God  under  my  ministry.  .  .  . 
Our  whole  journey  has  been  one  of  mercy.  God  has  espe- 
cially owned  the  word ;  many  have  been  blessed.  We  had 
a  crowd  about  us  when  we  set  off,  and  yesterday  was  a  high 
day  indeed." 


ITINERANCY.  257 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ITINERANCY. 

A  FEW  months  later  we  find  Dr.  Clarke  performing  an 
extensive  tour  in  Ireland,  whither  he  had  gone  on  some  re- 
searches relative  to  the  State  Record  Commission  with  which 
he  had  now  been  entrusted  by  the  government,  and  to  meet 
the  Irish  preachers  at  their  annual  Conference.  His  letters 
homeward  detail  some  particulars  of  this  expedition,  which 
give  us  his  revived  impressions  of  years  now  receding  into 
the  immeasurable  past. 

"  Holyhead,  May  30.  I  wrote  to  you  from  Shrewsbury, 
my  very  dear  Mary,  on  Tuesday.  Having  slept  there,  we 
set  off  between  five  and  six  in  the  morning ;  and  after  trav- 
eling through  the  wildest,  most  uncultivated  and  uncultivat- 
able  country  I  ever  saw,  vast  mountains,  sudden  and  tre- 
mendous precipices,  huge  overhanging  rocks,  rivers  tumb- 
ling over  the  mountains ;  a  country  which  exhibits  all  the 
disruptions  which  nature  could  have  suffered  by  every  sort 
of  violence,  .  .  .  we  got  safe,  eighty-five  miles  on  the  whole, 
a  little  before  ten,  to  Bangor  Ferry.  A  good  supper,  and 
went  to  bed ;  slept  till  just  before  five ;  crossed  the  ferry, 
breakfasted  at  the  house  where  you  and  I  and  John  had  the 
bottle  of  fine  cider  twenty- two  years  ago,  and  then  reached 
Holyhead.  .  .  .  The  very  sight  of  some  of  the  precipices 
would  have  drunk  up  your  soul." 

"Dublin,  31.  Having  got  a  little  breakfast,  I  set  out  to 
deliver  my  credentials  to  Mr.  Mason,  the  secretary.  Did 
not  find  him  at  home.  Met  him  on  returning,  and  appointed 
to  meet  him  within  two  hours.  Went  to  visit  the  preachers, 
and  none  of  them  at  home.  N.  B.  The  old  breakfasting-out 
system  still  lasts,  I  entered  the  house  where  we  had  suf- 

17 


258  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

fered  so  many  calamities,  not  without  strong  emotions.  The 
school  is  now  held  in  the  parlor  on  the  right,  as  you  go  in. 

I  then  called  on  Mr.  ,  and  found  him  embalming  his 

already  demi-mummized  body  with  nicotian  fumes.  Called 
to  see  John  Jones  and  his  wife.  Mad  with  joy  to  see  me. 
Then  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  Then  to  H.-street,  to  see  my 
cousin  Boyd.  They  have  a  fine  tall  daughter,  whom  they 
call  Eve.  The  father's  name  you  know  is  Adam.  He 
knows  the  genealogy  of  our  family  most  nobly,  and  tells  me 
he  can  trace  it  up  through  seventeen  Irish  kings.  Now,  go 
to :  could  you  have  thought  you  were  allied  to  one  who  can 
trace  the  pure  current  of  his  blood  through  seventeen  mon- 
archs  ?  I  hope  you  will  now  begin  to  think  much  of  your- 
self. Leaving  them,  proceeded  to  the  secretary's,  and  ex- 
amined with  him  different  MS.  indexes.  He  showed  me  un- 
common kindness,  and  furnished  me  with  letters  to  Trinity 
College.  I  posted  thither,  and  met  Dr.  Barrett  coming 
down  his  own  stairs  and  going  into  the  hall  on  an  examina- 
tion. He  has  appointed  to  meet  me  to-morrow  at  eleven. 
Returned  to  my  lodging  completely  wearied,  having  walked 
over  Dublin  from  one  end  to  the  other.  .  .  .  Tell  John  to 
see  that  nothing  exceptionable  in  the  natural  history  of  the 
Defense  of  the  Nachash  be  permitted  to  pass."* 

When  journeying  in  the  provinces  Dr.  Clarke  was  care- 
ful to  avail  himself  of  opportunities  for  preaching  the  Gospel. 
Thus,  at  Charlernont :  "  Sunday  morning.  The  people  throng- 
ing together  from  all  quarters,  it  was  found  impracticable  to 
preach  in  the  chapel.  We  sent  therefore  to  the  commander  of 
the  fort  to  permit  us  the  use  of  one  of  the  yards.  He  readily 
acceded,  and  came  himself  and  several  of  his  men.  It  was 
a  very  stormy  morning,  and  I  was  obliged  to  stand  exposed 
to  the  wind  and  rain.  We  had  a  very  good  time,  and  as 
soon  as  finished  I  drove  off  for  Dungannon.  PI  ere  the  crowd 
was  great,  and  we  had  scarcely  hope  to  stow  them  into  the 
chapel,  which  is  by  far  the  largest  I  have  seen  since  we  left 

*  Probably  referring  to  a  paper  written  for  the  Classical  Journal,  in  re- 
ply to  a  critique  on  bin  theory  of  the  Nachash  in  Gen.  iii,  1. 


ITINERANCY.  259 

Dublin.  As  I  now  felt  a  touch  of  sore  throat,  I  dared  not 
venture  in  the  open  air  a  second  time.  We  got  to  the  chapel. 
Greatly  crowded.  Numbers  without.  Great  grace  rested 
upon  all.  Many  of  our  old  friends  followed  from  Armagh 
and  Charlemont,  and  others  came  from  twenty  miles  around." 

From  Magherafelt  he  writes :  "  We  proceeded  from  Dun- 
gannon  to  Cookstown,  where  I  had  been  published  to  preach 
in  the  Dissenting  meeting-house.  .  .  .  When  I  got  to  the 
place,  could  hardly  articulate,  owing  to  the  severe  cold 
caught  on  Sunday  morning.  There  was  no  remedy.  Into 
the  pulpit.  It  was  supposed  that  three  thousand  were  pres- 
ent, from  far  and  near  and  wide.  I  went  in,  found  I  could 
not  preach,  and  gave  it  over  as  a  lost  case.  I,  however, 
thought  of  saying  a  few  words  by  way  of  exhortation.  The 
people  were  as  still  as  death.  I  spoke  for  forty-five  minutes, 
and  with  much  freedom.  All  the  principal  people  were 
there,  and  several  of  the  clergy.  Yesterday  we  came  to  this 
place.  It  is  astonishing  to  think  of  the  concourse  of  people. 
We  have  no  chapel  here.  Got  the  Presbyterian  meeting- 
house, and  preached  with  glorious  power — I  believe,  to  every 
relative  I  have  in  the  kingdom :  they  had  heard  of  my  com- 
ing, and  to  the  sixth  or  eigth  generation  were  gathered  to- 
gether. I  am  now  just  setting  off  for  Maghera." 

In  another  letter:  "From  Castle  Dawson  I  proceeded 
toward  Maghera,  and  stopped  to  view  the  place  where  I  had 
spent  the  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  years  of  my  check- 
ered life.  Half  the  house  in  which  we  lived,  one  of  the  best 
in  that  country,  is  pulled  down.  ...  I  walked  through  the 
grounds  where  I  had  laughed  and  cried,  sought  birds'  nests, 
looked  for  fairies'  haunts,  made  good  resolutions,  and  spent 
the  most  happy  (and,  perhaps,  the  most  innocent)  period  of 
my  life.  Though  I  had  left  that  place  when  about  eight 
years  of  age,  yet  I  remembered  every  hill  and  every  hedge, 
where  my  brother  and  I  used  to  see  the  fairies'  nocturnal  fires. 
The  orchard,  from  which  I  had  eaten  often  of  the  choicest 
fruit,  no  longer  exists.  Zion  is  plowed  like  a  field.  The 
emotions  to  which  these  scenes  now  gave  birth  cannot  be  de- 


260  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

scribed.  .  .  .  They  connect  the  long  interval  between  four 
years  of  age  and  fifty.  ...  To  the  poor  woman  I  gave 
three  tenpenny  pieces,  who  received  them  as  from  heaven, 
and,  addressing  the  child,  said,  '  See,  my  dear,  God  has  sent 
you  a  new  coat  by  this  gentleman ;  and  may  the  blessing 
of  God  rest  upon  him  and  his  family  forever !'  .  .  .  We 
soon  got  to  Maghera — looking  over  which  before  dinner, 
went  to  the  quondam  dwelling  of  Dr.  Bernard,  the  Bishop 
of  Limerick,  celebrated  in  Boswell.  This  is  also  in  a  state 
of  ruin ;  nothing  like  its  former  self,  except  the  great 
beech-tree.  Left  the  place  with  reflections  not  the  most 
pleasant.  .  .  . 

"  The  next  morning  I  set  out  to  visit  the  Grove,  and  to 
look  for  my  old  dwelling,  and  the  school-house  in  the  wood  ; 
but  could  get  no  farther  than  the  Grove." 

From  Coleraine  :  "  Our  preaching-house  being  too  small 
in  Derry,  I  was  furnished  with  the  Court-house,  a  large  and 
elegant  building,  and  in  it  preached  on  the  Lord's  day  to 
crowded  congregations.  Yesterday  I  went  out  to  Ballyaher- 
ton,  where  we  formally  resided;  and  when  I  came  to  the 
old  habitation,  I  surveyed  it  with  reverence.  A  poor  woman 
was  standing  at  the  door.  I  said,  '  Will  you  permit  me  to 
walk  into  your  house  ?'  '  She  said, '  O  sir,  it  is  not  a  proper 
place  for  such  a  gentleman  as  youvto  enter.'  I  answered, 
4 1  have  had  the  privilege  of  living  in  it  for  several  years.' 
...  I  gave  the  children  each  a  tenpenny  piece.  Peram- 
bulating the  neighborhood,  I  came  to  a  place  called  Port- 
Stewart,  where  I  had  often  held  religious  meetings.  None 
knew  me.  But,  after  I  had  discovered  myself  to  one,  the 
news  ran,  and  the  people  came  in  every  direction  about 
me.  .  .  . 

"Returned  to  Coleraine,  where  I  had  to  preach.  .  .  . 
Was  not  a  little  surprised  to  see  Captain  O'Neil's  and  Mr. 
Crombie's  chariot-sociable,  and  all  their  family,  who  came 
to  hear  preaching,  the  first  of  the  Methodist  kind  they  had 
ever  heard.  .  .  .  Preached,  thank  God,  a  glorious  sermon, 
two  hours,  Everybody  to  hear;  almost  all,  if  not  all,  the 


ITINERANCY.  261 

gentry  of  the  town,  and  some  others  from  five  or  six  miles 
distant.  This  day  we  went  to  the  Giant's  Causeway.  .  .  , 
It  fell  short  of  my  expectation.  The  pain  of  which  I  com- 
plained at  home  has  continued  with  little  intermission." 

From  Antrim,  on  the  longest  day  :  "  Yesterday  left  Cole- 
raine  for  Bally  mena,  a  journey  of  twenty-two  miles.  Thirty- 
two  years  ago  I  walked  this  same  road  to  a  love-feast.  Only 
one  woman  remains  of  those  who  were  in  society  at  that 
time.  .  .  .  On  my  arrival  to-day,  as  our  own  chapel  was 
utterly  insufficient,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Babbington,  the  rector, 
kindly  offered  me  the  use  of  his  church,  which,  on  the  tolling 
of  the  bell,  was  soon  filled  with  a  great  concourse,  to  whom 
I  found  considerable  liberty  in  showing  what  were  the  doc- 
trines of  the  apostles,  from  Acts  ii,  42.  To-day  we  left  for 
Antrim,  and  here  we  should  have  had  another  church ;  but 
the  rector  happened  to  be  away,  and  our  people  had  not  ap- 
plied in  time.  Preached  in  the  Presbyterian  chapel." 

On  the  way  to  Antrim  Dr.  Clarke  visited  the  Moravian 
settlement  of  Grace  Hill.  They  pressed  him  to  give  them 
an  address  in  the  chapel.  "  We  entered,"  he  says,  "  and  I 
was  surprised  to  find  a  large  congregation.  I  desired  the 
minister  to  give  out  one  of  his  own  hymns.  He  did  so,  and 
they  all  accompanied  the  organ  in  good  full  chorus.  The 
hymn  gave  me  excellent  scope  to  speak  on  for  half  an  hour." 
They  sang  a  parting  hymn,  and  he  commended  them  to  God 
in  prayer.  The  settlement  contained  at  that  time  four  hun- 
dred members.  He  preached  again  the  same  evening  in  An- 
trim, "  a  good  deal  to  my  hurt,  as,  my  mental  energy  being 
greatly  exhausted,  I  was  obliged  to  exert  the  greater  physi- 
cal force  ;  and  this  to  me  is  ever  unpleasant  and  hurtful." 

Sunday,  June  23.  He  preached  twice  in  Belfast.  Immense 
crowds.  His  voice  failed  in  the  evening ;  and  again  at  Lis- 
burn  next  day.  On  the  Wednesday  at  Lurgan,  out  of  doors 
"  as  nothing  but  a  field  would  contain  the  thousands  that 
gathered  together.  The  day  following  it  was  agreed  that  I 
should  rest :  I  go  therefore  to  dine  with  Mr.  Hamilton,  and 
to-morrow  preach  at  Portadown." 


262  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

From  the  latter  place  he  writes  :  "  Well,  I  am  now  re- 
turned from  preaching  to  the  largest  congregation  I  ever 
addressed.  I  had  almost  all  the  town  and  all  the  country, 
peasantry,  gentry,  magistrates,  preachers,  and  clergy.  The 
grass  does  not  cover  the  field  more  thickly  than  the  peo- 
ple. ...  I  found  both  strength  and  mind  for  the  work,  and 
trust  God  will  not  permit  the  word  to  have  been  spoken  in 
vain." 

In  the  same  way  the  Doctor  preached  at  Drogheda, 
making  five  times  in  the  open  air  within  the  last  eight  days 
of  the  tour.  On  the  2d  of  July  he  arrived  in  Dublin. 

"  Mr.  Butterworth  and  Joseph  are  well :  they  are  both 
greatly  improved  by  their  journey  ;  and  I  am  conscious  that 
I  am  much  the  worse  every  way.  My  clothes  are  worn  out, 
and  are  not  fit  to  appear  in,  even  in  the  meanest  congregation. 
I  have  had  nothing  but  fatigue  and  suffering  all  the  time. 
My  love  to  everybody." 

The  Conference  which  now  opened,  and  at  which  Dr.  Clarke 
had  come  to  preside,  consisted  of  about  a  hundred  preachers 
from  all  parts  of  Ireland.  "I  assure  you  they  are  all  equal, 
man  for  man,  with  the  English  preachers.  They  are  all 
walking  with  a  clear  sense  of  their  acceptance  with  God ; 
which  is  of  infinite  moment,  not  only  to  their  own  salvation, 
but  to  the  prosperity  of  the  work  of  God. 

"  Yesterday   I   went  to  dine   with  the   Rev.  Dr.  . 

Several'  of  the  clergy  were  present,  and  a  number  of  gen- 
teel persons  of  both  sexes.  The  house  was  elegant,  and  the 
entertainment  splendid.  But  what  we  were  brought  together 
for,  unless  merely  to  eat,  I  am  to  this  hour  at  a  loss  to  di- 
vine. No  topic  of  conversation  was  started,  and  no  person 
seemed  to  notice  another.  Whether  this  is  to  be  attributed 
to  self-sufficient  confidence,  or  to  a  fear  of  each  other,  I  do 
not  pretend  to  say  :  but  the  repast  ended,  as  it  began,  in 
comparative  silence ;  and  then  I  took  French  leave,  heartily 
sorry  I  had  lost  so  much  time,  or  had,  probably,  been  the 
means  of  preventing  the  company  from  enjoying  theirs.  .  .  . 
This  day  I  dined  at  Major  Sirr's,  at  the  Castle ;  where,  had  I 


1TINEEANCY.  263 

not  been  confined  for  time,  I  should  have  spent  a  pleasant 
and  profitable  evening." 

The  Conference  ended  on  the  17th,  leaving  Dr.  Clarke 
greatly  exhausted.  Toward  the  close  of  his  sta*y  in  Dublin, 
he  accompanied  Mr.  Butterworth  on  a  visit  to  the  college  of 
Maynooth,  where  they  were  "  very  politely  received  by 
Father  De  la  Hogue,  one  of  the  professors.  It  costs  our 
government  £9,000  per  annum.  Mr.  Knox  is  the  treasurer. 
Students,  three  hundred.  I  saw  nothing  very  remarkable. 
Their  library  is  a  poor  one,  and  their  chapel  not  elegant. 
The  only  thing  I  saw  worth  observation  was  the  following, 
written  in  large  letters  above  the  fire-place  in  the  kitchen : 
'Be  clean,  have  taste,  don't  want,  don't  waste.'  When 
coming  away  I  offered  my  hand  to  Father  De  la  Hogue ; 
but  he  declined  receiving  it.  He  had  received  us  with  the 
utmost  politeness.  I  was  a  heretic,  and  therefore  he  would 
not  give  me  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  His  politeness  and 
courtesy  were,  therefore,  put  on.  What  an  execrable  system, 
which  cramps  and  freezes  all  the  charities  of  human  life  ! 

"  I  must  now  begin  to  do  something  for  the  Records  the 
remaining  part  of  this  week."  This  latter  employment  now 
occupied  him  closely.  "  I  am  still  driving  from  office  to 
office,  till  nearly  off  my  feet.  .  .  .  If  it  would  do  me  any  good 
I  have  honor  here  in  great  abundance.  People  whom  I  have 
never  known,  both  among  the  clergy  and  nobility,  call  on  me 
and  leave  their  cards.  Invitations  to  the  city,  to  the  suburbs, 
the  country,  are  without  end.  Last  Sunday  evening,  when  I 
preached  at  the  new  Chapel,  the  street  was  filled  with  chari- 
ots, coaches,  berlins,  and  jaunting-cars;  and  I  had  lords, 
ladies,  knights,  doctors,  clergy,  laity,  in  full  score.  I  wish 
you  had  been  with  me»  I  have  been  obliged  to  go  to  the 
barracks  and  dine  with  the  officers,  who  behaved  with  the 
utmost  politeness  and  respect."* 

On  Dr.  Clarke's  return  to  England  he  had  to  encounter 
the  grief  occasioned  by  the  decease  of  his  mother.  Her 

*  Of  this  tour  in  Ireland  I  have  given  the  above  notices  from  the  Doc- 
tor's manuscript  letters. 


264  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLAliKE. 

health  had  been  for  some  time  rapidly  declining.  He  had 
seen  her  at  Bristol  on  his  way  to  Ireland,  and  had  found  her 
in  the  full  possession  of  her  faculties,  calmly  waiting  for  her 
translation  to  the  eternal  mansions.  On  the  subject  of  the 
coming  change  she  spoke  with  a  devout  serenity  ;  and,  on 
parting  with  her  son,  she  commended  him  with  earnest  prayer 
to  the  blessing  of  God.  Yet,  in  the  course  of  his  ministerial 
tour,  the  Doctor  seems  to  have  expected  still  once  again  to 
visit  this  beloved  parent.  Her  decease,  however,  transpired 
so  closely  on  the  eve  of  his  return,  that  no  news  of  it  had 
reached  him  on  the  way.  "  But,"  says  her  grandaughter, 
"from  the  constrained  manner  and  tearful  eyes  which  but 
too  eloquently  replied  to  the  almost  first  interrogation  upon 
entering  his  house,  '  Is  all  well  V  the  truth  could  not  be  con- 
cealed ;  upon  which  his  countenance  instantly  grew  pale,  his 
lips  quivered,  he  spoke  not,  but  in  the  silence  of  the  heart's 
agony,  with  upraised  eyes  and  heaving  chest,  he  retired  to 
his  study." 

"  The  heart  knoweth  its  own  bitterness."  We  envy  not 
the  man  who  is  not  bowed  down  at  the  death  of  the  mother 
who  bare  him,  the  guide  of  his  youth,  the  moralist  of  his 
heart,  and  the  encourager  of  every  good  feeling  and  worthy 
action ;  and  such  had  been  Mrs.  Clarke  to  him  who  now 
mourned  her  departure.  Her  image  was  ever  dear  to  his 
memory,  and  her  earliest  lessons  had  shaped  the  character 
and  conduct  of  his  life.  Yet  must  his  sorrow  have  been  not 
without  thankfulness  for  the  grace  shown  both  to  himself 
and  her,  in  sanctifying  and  saving  them  together ;  not  without 
the  full  assurance  of  hope  that  they  should  alike  have  their 
perfect  consummation  and  bliss  in  the  everlasting  kingdom 
of  Him  who  had  redeemed  them. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Roberts,  the  friend  and  neighbor  of 
the  departed  matron,  wrote  to  Dr.  Clarke,  on  the  occasion,  a 
letter  of  condolence,  in  which  he  appropriately  says :  "  You 
are  justified  in  entertaining  the  best  feelings  when  you  reflect 
that  good  Mrs.  Clarke  was  your  mother.  She  lived  just  so 
long,  and  died  so  well,  as  to  leave  in  the  heart  of  her  son 


ITINERANCY.  265 

nothing  but  acquiescence  in  the  Divine  will,  and  gratitude 
for  that  gracious  dispensation  of  Heaven  which  could  not 
have  been  manifested  in  a  manner  more  consolatory  to  the 
feelings  of  the  man,  the  son,  and  the  Christian." 

Dr.  Clarke  was  speedily  summoned  from  the  indulgence 
of  lonesome  grief,  to  resume  those  life-absorbing  efforts 
which  Providence  had  ordained  as  the  task  of  his  existence, 
and  in  the  fulfillment  of  which  his  own  preparation  for  the 
rest  that  remaineth  unto  the  people  of  God  could  be  best 
carried  on.  In  the  stated  work  of  the  pulpit,  in  advancing 
the  Commentary,  and  in  discharging  the  duties  resulting 
from  his  engagement  with  the  Record  Commission,  the 
weeks  and  months  passed  rapidly  away.  These  avocations 
called  him  to  Cambridge,  to  Oxford,  and  again  to  Ireland. 
Connected  with  his  sojourn  at  Cambridge  in  December,  he 
makes  a  memorandum  on  the  formation  of  a  Bible  Society 
in  that  town:  "Lord  Hard \vicke,"  says  he,  "was  in  the 
chair,  supported  by  Lord  Francis  Osborne,  the  dean  of  Car- 
lisle, and  several  of  the  professors.  The  meeting  lasted 
from  eleven  till  four  o'clock  ;  and  such  speeches  I  never 
heard.  Mr.  Owen  exceeded  his  former  self;  Mr.  Dealtry 
spoke  like  an  angel ;  and  Dr.  E.  D.  Clarke,  the  traveler, 
like  a  seraph.  Everything  was  carried,  and  the  meeting 
ended  in  a  blaze  of  celestial  light.  Every  man  seemed 
to  swear  that  he  would  carry  the  Bible  to  all  who  never 
knew  it,  so  far  as  the  providence  of  God  should  permit  him 
to  go.  For  myself,  I  did  not  laugh  and  cry  alternately  ;  I 
did  both  together,  and  completely  wet  my  pocket-hand- 
kerchief with  tears.  Between  two  and  three  hundred 
young  men  of  the  University  were  the  first  movers  in  this 
business."  In  the  following  April  he  visited  Cambridge 
again,  and  was  hospitably  entertained  at  Corpus  Christi 
College.  During  this  sojourn  he  had  several  hopeful  con- 
versations with  some  of  the  junior  gownsmen,  who  greatly 
pleased  him  "by  their  disposition  and  manners."  One  of 
these,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Galland,  M.A.,  became  a  distin- 
guished ornament  to  the  Methodist  ministry. 


266  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 


CHAPTER  VIP. 

ITINERANCY. 

IN  June  Dr.  Clarke  resumed  his  travels  in  Ireland.  "  Left 
London,"  writes  he,  "  at  six  A.  M.,  in  the  Liverpool  coach, 
having  under  my  care  a  young  lady,  Miss  O'Connor,  a  per- 
fect stranger  to  me,  but  whom  I  was  requested  to  protect 
to  Dublin.  I  soon  found  that  she  was  a  Roman  Catholic, 
but  of  an  amiable  disposition,  and,  in  her  own  way,  con- 
scientiously religious.  At  the  place  of  our  last  changing 
between  Prescot  and  Warrington,  Mr.  Nuttall,  Mr.  Fisher, 
and  their  man  and  carriage  were  waiting,  and  took  me  and 
my  little  ward  to  their  place,  called  Nut  Grove,  where  they 
were  distractingly  glad  to  see  me.  On  our  journey  I  ob- 
served that  my  ward  had  a  French  work,  called  Journal  du 
Chretien,  (the  Christian's  Diary,)  in  which  there  is  a  prayer 
and  what  is  called  '  an  act  of  devotion,'  for  the  morning  and 
evening  of  each  day.  Poor  little  thing,  though  she  had  no 
place  of  retirement  to  do  these  devotions,  yet  such  is  her 
fear  of  God,  that  she  could  not  neglect  them ;  and  therefore, 
at  the  proper  time,  both  morning  and  evening,  she  took  out 
her  book  and  read  her  little  devotions.  I  rejoiced  to  show 
her  that  a  heretic,  so  called,  loves  the  same  God." 

"June  11.  I  preached  in  Liverpool  to  an  immense  crowd. 
I  understand  a  Roman  Catholic  lady,  who  had  long  been 
seeking  rest  for  her  soul,  came  to  the  preaching.  She  was 
deeply  convinced  that  the  foundation  of  her  hope  must  be 
alone  in  the  death  and  merits  of  Christ.  Her  heart  ap- 
peared as  if  broken  under  the  word,  and  God  showed  her 
the  way  of  salvation  by  faith  through  the  blood  of  the 
cross."  The  doctor  preached  again  on  the  14th  at  Bruns- 
wick Chapel,  on  "  the  providence  and  mercy  of  God ;  who 


ITINERANCY.  267 

wrought  for  his  own  name,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe 
much  good  was  done.  We  had  a  bad  night  at  sea ;  one 
mast  was  split,  and  the  wind  was  against  us.  Through 
mercy  we  reached  Dublin  in  safety." 

"  A  gentleman  attthe  Custom  House,  seeing  '  Dr.  Clarke ' 
on  different  boxes,  (for  it  was  on  all  Miss  O'Connor's,) 
came  out  into  the  mob  that  surrounded  us,  and  inquired  for 
Dr.  Clarke.  I  answered.  He  took  me  into  the  Custom 
House,  instantly  passed  all  the  boxes,  would  take  no 
money,  saw  us  both  into  a  jingle,  and  told  the  fellow  to  be- 
ware he  took  no  more  than  his  fare,  which  was  six  shillings 
and  sixpence ;  and  so  we  got  safely  to  Mr.  Keene's." 

Dr.  Clarke's  health  was  again'  distressingly  impaired. 
He  suffered  so  much,  that  existence  seemed  at  times  a  mar- 
tyrdom. Through  the  grace  given  to  him,  his  will  bore  up 
with  an  indomitable  energy,  and  carried  him  through  the 
labors  of  the  pulpit,  or  preaching  in  the  open  air,  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Conference,  and  the  researches  of  the  State 
Record  business,  while  many  a  man  in  like  affliction  would 
have  been  at  home  in  his  bed. 

"  We  this  day  commence  our  operations  on  the  Lodge 
Manuscripts,  and  I  shall  open  my  way  with  the  chancellor 
of  Christ  Church,  perhaps  call  on  Dr.  Barrett  and  others. 
Major  Sirr's  family  fully  expected  me  to  lodge  there ;  but 
our  people  and  the  preachers  have  taken  fire  at  the  propo- 
sal. I  found  here  an  affectionate  letter  from  Mr.  Averell, 
who  is  waiting  to  convey  me  to  Cork,  etc.  But  such  a  jour- 
ney is  now  xitterly  out  of  my  power.  Another  letter  was 
in  waiting  from  Mr.  Mayne,  of  Drogheda,  an  extract  from 
which  will  not  displease  you:  'Dear  Doctor, — Our  people 
anxiously  desire  to  see  you ;  and  the  public  at  large,  to  hear 
you  once  more.  Pray  do  visit  us.  The  last  time  you  were 
here,  God  gave  a  Roman  Catholic  to  your  ministry.  He  is 
thoroughly  steady,  and  his  wife  has  since  died  in  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Come,  therefore;  who  knows  but  God  may  give 
you  another?'  I  know  what  both  you  and  Mr.  Butterworth 
will  say ;  and,  please  God,  I  shall  obey  you.  There  I  shall 


268  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

go,  God  willing — I  think  Wednesday — preach  to  them  on 
Thursday,  and  return  on  Friday,  if  this  horrible  seizure  (of 
affliction)  will  give  me  so  much  respite.  But  it  so  thorough- 
ly embitters  every  comfort,  that  I  cannot  rejoice  in  anything 
without  trembling.  For  eight  days  I  have  swallowed  noth- 
ing, cold  or  hot,  solid  or  fluid,  without  great,  often  extreme 
pain.  I  am  in  constant  pain,  and  often  in  agony  indescrib- 
able." 

"  June  22.  When  in  Liverpool,  I  preached  two  sermons  ; 
and  it  appears  that  God  has  owned  them  in  a  signal  man- 
ner. They  have  produced  a  universal  stir.  A  Roman 
Catholic  lady  was  thoroughly  converted  under  the  first ;  she 
has  since  joined  Miss  Titherington's  class,  and  given  a  won- 
derful testimony.  The  trustees  waited  on  me  formally  to 
thank  me  for  my  visit,  and  to  request  that  I  would  come  to 
them  next  year.  Yesterday  preached  at  Wesley  Chapel, 
and  at  Whitefriars'-street.  High  fever  and  utmost  exhaust- 
ion. Cough  most  oppressive  to-day." 

"June  26.  I  am  just  this  minute  returned  from  Drog- 
heda.  Mr.  Tobias,  Mr.  F.,  and  John  accompanied  me. 
Yesterday  morning  they  entertained  us  with  a  public  break- 
fast ;  you  know  I  not  only  do  not  like,  but  detest  such 
meetings.  However,  as  it  was  done  to  honor  me,  I  endeav- 
ored to  receive  it  in  good  part,  and"  gave  them  a  sort  of 
sermon  for  about  half  an  hour.  [The  interval  to  the  even- 
ing was  spent  in  an  excursion  to  the.  scene  of  the  battle  of 
the  Boyne,  and  some  other  remarkable  spots.]  ...  I  went 
into  all  the  hovels  in  this  most  miserable  village,  (Munster- 
boyce,)  where  Mr.  Butterworth's  bounty  enabled  me  to 
leave  a  handful  of  silver  last  year.  I  found  them  in  the 
same  or  worse  misery ;  and,  trusting  in  God,  I  opened  my 
stock,  and,  according  to  their  different  necessities,  divided 
with  them  at  least  as  much  as  last  year.  ...  I  got  a  tor- 
rent of  most  hearty  prayers  for  me  and  mine.  I  was  not  a 
little  tried  when  I  found  I  must  preach  in  the  new  market- 
place in  the  open  air.  .  .  .  The  hour  came,  and  I  went  to 
the  spot.  There  were  about  a  thousand  people ;  many 


ITINERANCY.  269 

Catholics,  and  among  them  two  or  three  priests.  There 
were  also  two  clergymen.  What  good  may  have  been 
done,  I  know  not.  If  God  have  glory,  my  labor  is  not  in 
vain." 

"  July  1.  We  began  our  Stationing  Committee  this  morn- 
ing, and  have  just  got  through  forty  circuits.  To-morrow 
will  finish  that  part  of  the  work,  and  on  Friday  we  enter 
on  the  regular  work  of  the  Conference." 

The  business  of  the  Stationing  Committee  brought  more 
vividly  before  Dr.  Clarke's  mind  his  own  approaching 
change  of  circuit ;  a  subject  which,  in  his  peculiar  circum- 
stances, excited  some  uneasiness.  It  is  on  this  point  that 
he  here  adds :  "  Now,  my  dear  Mary,  with  respect  to  going 
to  Liverpool;  I  am  far  from  being  happy  in  London.  I 
feel  uncomfortable  in  Harpur-street.  I  am  maintained  by 
the  Society,  and  they  have  no  adequate  work  for  their 
money.  I  do  not  think  I  am  acting  with  justice  to  take  the 
maintenance  of  a  preacher,  while  not  doing  one  half  of  his 
work.  Added  to  this,  it  is  a  considerable  expense  to  Mr. 
B.  to  make  up  taxes  and  deficiencies.  .  .  .  You  know  I  am 
not  partial  to  Liverpool ;  yet  here  there  seems  to  be  an 
open  door.  Not  only  the  Catholic  lady  was  converted 
when  I  preached  there  on  my  way  hither,  but  also  a  deist. 
Perhaps,  by  others,  more  accustomed  to  see  God's  hand  in 
these  matters,  these  would  be  considered  tokens  for  good, 
and  particular  calls.  What  can  I  do  ?  My  own  mind  leads 
me  to  give  up  at  once,  because  I  cannot  do  the  full  work ; 
and  neither  my  judgment  nor  conscience  will  allow  me  to 
eat  bread  in  this  way,  which  I  have  not  earned.  Indeed, 
the  business  is  come  to  a  crisis  with  me.  In  my  present 
way  I  shall  go  on  no  longer.  I  have  suffered  greatly  in  my 
mind  last  year  on  this  account ;  and  shall  I  commence  an- 
other in  the  same  circumstances  1  My  day  of  digging  is 
over ;  and  as  to  begging,  I  never  could  do  it.  But  I  may 
still  earn  a  little  bread  ;  though,  from  all  appearances,  not 
long.  But  that  I  must  leave.  I  feel  I  am  too  much  in  the 
bustle  of  life,  and  to  this  there  is  no  congeniality  in  my 


270  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

nature.  My  heart  and  soul  have  long  said :  '  O  that  I  had 
in  the  wilderness  the  lodging-place  of  a  wayfaring  man  !' 
But  I  am  brought  on  the  eve  of  Conference,  without  plan, 
arrangement,  or  prospect  of  being  put  in  circumstances 
where  my  mind  can  be  at  ease.  .  .  .  My  cough  and  oppres- 
sion still  continue  unabated,  and  I  am  not  able  to  take  as 
much  sleep  as  is  necessary  to  support  life.'.' 

We  transcribe  these  sentences,  however  reluctantly,  to 
show  the  honorable  feelings  of  the  writer,  and  to  make  them 
serve  to  explain  some  of  the  after-movements  of  his  life. 
But,  while  we  read  them,  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  he  who 
was  giving  way  to  morbid  self-accusations  was  all  the  while 
one  of  the  most  hard-working  men  among  all  his  contempo- 
raries in  the  Lord's  vineyard.  Let  us  hear  him  in  the  next 
letter : 

"July  5.  From  six  in  the  morning  till  four,  in  the  Con- 
ference. Before  I  go  in  the  morning,  writing  till  within  the 
few  minutes  it  takes  to  trot  to  the  chapel.  As  soon  as  I 
come  home,  up  with  the  pen,  and  continue  every  minute  till 
I  go  to  bed,  except  the  very  short  time  I  take  to  get  a  little 
food.  I  do  not  get  half  sleep.  I  have  preached  this  morn- 
ing at  seven,  at  Gravel  Walk.  Before  I  went,  hard  at  work. 
The  congregation  was  vast,  and  the  place  very  hot.  Spent 
myself;  but,  as  soon  as  I  came  home,  to  work  again,  and 
continued  till  half-past  one.  Then  to  Whitefriars,  to 
preach  to  an  immense  congregation.  Worked  two  hours. 
Home,  and,  except  about  half  an  hour  for  dinner,  at  the 
writing  again ;  and  now  it  is  about  eight  o'clock,  P.M., 
when  I  sit  down  to  write  to  you.  I  received  yours  with  the 
proof,  and  have  hurried  much  to  correct  it.  This  morning 
1  received  a  letter  from  the  Speaker  and  Mr.  Cayley,  inquir 
ing  when  I  shall  return,  and  requesting  me  to  come  to  the 
Tower,  and  see  what  they  are  doing  there  for  me ;  request- 
ing me  also  to  go  to  Oxford,  and  collate  a  copy  of  the 
Boldon-Book,  in  the  Bodleian  library.  One  day  only  is  al- 
lowed me  in  the  Tower  before  I  go  to  Oxford.  I  must  go 
straight  to  London,  and  then  to  Oxon  even  before  Confer- 


ITINERANCY.  271 

ence.  The  above  orders  are  made  out  to  me  in  the  form  of 
respectful  requests.  You  know  I  must  either  go  on  or  stop. 
I  am  in  a  continual  fever,  and  my  breast  gets  no  time  to 
heal ;  the  oppression  and  cough  are  grievous.  Is  there  any 
such  a  fool  as  I  am  alive  ?  My  life  is  incessant  labor  and 
anxiety." 

What  follows  shows  a  heart  full  of  sympathy  for  the 
trials  of  his  afflicted  brethren :  "  Yesterday  poor  John 
Grace,  one  of  our  best  preachers,  was  buried.  He  had  set 
out  for  Conference,  was  taken  ill  on  the  road,  and  died  at 
Mountrath.  The  circumstances  of  this  case  are  distressing 
and  horrible.  Before  leaving  his  circuit  he  had  an  inflam- 
mation in  his  chest;  riding  increased  it.  When  he  came 
to  a  friend's  house  at  Mountrath,  perceiving  him  to  be  very 

ill,  they  sent  for  a  doctor  named .     This  rascal  ordered 

him  to  drink  cold  water,  and  pronounced  aloud  in  the  family 
that  his  disorder  was  a  dangerous,  malignant,  and  highly 
infectious  fever.  The  people  of  the  house  took  the  alarm, 
and  requested  that  he  might  be  removed.  No  one  would 
take  him  in.  Poor  Henry  Deery,  his  colleague,  ran  away 
into  the  town,  found  an  empty  house,  got  a  bed,  etc.,  into 
it;  and,  just  as  they  were  going  to  hurry  the  dying  messen- 
ger of  Christ  into  it,  the  whole  neighborhood  rose,  having 
heard  of  the  vile  quack's  decision,  and  absolutely  refused  to 
let  him  be  brought  there.  The  family  where  he  lay  were 
in  the  utmost  distress,  the  doctor  insisting  that,  to  preserve 
them  from  the  infection,  he  must  be  removed  within  an 
hour.  Poor  Deery  was  at  his  wits'  end.  A  waste  shat- 
tered building  contiguous  to  the  house  was  pitched  on  as  the 
only  asylum.  Deery  went  and  got  bundles  of  straw,  and 
stopped  up  the  breaches  and  crevices  in  the  walls.  Poor 
John  Grace  was  then  rolled  up  in  the  bed-clothes ;  the  bed 
was  got  into  this  place,  and  he  was  lifted  over  a  wall,  to  be 
stretched  on  that  from  which  he  never  more  removed.  .  .  . 
He  called  out  for,  some  cold  water.  It  was  brought ;  and, 
having  drunk  it,  he  said :  '  I  shall  soon  drink  of  that  river 
the  streams  of  which  make  glad  the  city  of  God.'  There 


272  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

was  just  time  enough  to  send  for  his  poor  wife,  who  got  to 
the  wretched  hovel  in  time  to  close  the  eyes  of  her  husband, 
the  father  of  her  five  children.  Such  was  the  end  of  John 
Grace,  after  having  spent  twenty-five  years  in  the  public 
ministry  of  the  word.  O  God,  how  unsearchable  are 
thy  ways!" 

"July  11.  I  am  never  happy  from  home,  and  even  jour- 
neys of  pleasure  to  me  are  journeys  of  pain.  Company  I 
do  not  love,  no  matter  of  what  description  ;  and  I  scarcely 
can  ever  find  freedom  in  places  where  even  good  cheer,  good 
breeding,  good  sense,  and  religion  itself  predominate."  (A 
strange  man,  according  to  his  own  view  of  himself,  just 
then.)  "To  many  places  of  this  kind  I  ani  invited  in  this 
city ;  great  crowds  of  the  best  of  the  people  are  gathered 
together  to  do  me  honor.  I  wonder  that  such  invitations 
are  repeated,  as  I  often  sit  like  a  person  speechless,  or  one 
in  whose  mouth  there  are  no  reproofs.  Those  who  are 
strangers  to  me  must  have,  in  every  sense,  a  mean  opinion 
of  me ;  for,  though  I  hope  I  in  general  conduct  myself 
according  to  the  rules  of  good-breeding,  yet  I  cannot  be 
polite,  that  is,  pay  compliments  without  rhyme  or  reason. 
1  cannot  be  a  pleasing  companion  to  those  who  may  think 
themselves  entitled  to  this  kind  of  entertainment ;  and,  as  I 
rarely  speak  in  public  company;  I  consequently  neither 
please  nor  instruct  by  my  conversation.  In  short,  I  never 
was  made  for  the  world." 

It  may  have  been  true  enough  that  the  doctor,  in  common 
with  many  other  eminent  scholars,  had  occasionally  these 
feelings  of  constraint  in  society  ;  but  that  such  feelings  were 
so  habitual  as  to  become  characteristic,  is  more  than  will  be 
admitted  by  many  persons,  yet  surviving,  who  remember, 
and  can  never  forget,  the  genial  glow  of  his  conversation  in 
the  social  circle. 

"July  14.  To-morrow,  please  God,  I  sail  for  England,  as 
I  shall  finish  the  Conference  with  a  forenoon's  sitting. 
Their  financial  affairs  here  take  up  so  much  time.  The 
business  transacted  at  the  district  meetings  in  England  is 


ITINERANCY.  273 

all  done  here  in  open  Conference ;  a  fearful  waste  of  time. 
But  for  this  we  should  have  done  three  days  ago." 

"  Chester,  July  18.  From  Bangor  Ferry  to  St.  Asaph, 
and  thence  to  Holywell  and  this  city,  where  we  arrived 
after  one.  Never  have  I  felt  myself  so  exhausted.  In  the 
last  two  stages  I  was  nearly  knocked  up.  My  whole  vital 
energy  seems  nearly  gone  ;  and  I  would  sacrifice  not  a  little 
to  be  in  London,  as  I  have  seriously  feared  whether  I  shall 
not  be  laid  up.  I  suppose  it  is  the  effect  of  fatigue  and  anxiety, 
and  that  a  day  or  two  of  rest  will  restore  me.  But  where 
should  I  get  rest  ?  Here  I  am  among  perfect  strangers ; 
and  the  cry  is,  Preach,  preach.  I  have  promised  to  preach 
to-morrow  morning." 

Seventeen  days  after  the  last  date  we  find  him  again 
leaving  London  for  Oxford,  from  which  he  writes  : 

"  August  5.  We  reached  Oxford  between  eight  and  nine. 
It  being  the  race-week,  we  found  it  difficult  to  procure  a 
lodging  at  the  Augel,  but  succeeded  at  the  Mitre.  This 
morning  Mr.  Gabriel's  friend  procured  us  the  lodgings  in 
Broad-street,  where  I  now  write.  I  have  waited  on  Mr. 
Gaisford,  Regius  Professor  of  Greek,  with  the  Speaker's 
letter.  He  received  us  very  politely,  and  invited  us  to  dine 
in  public  hall  in  Christ  Church.  We  have  accordingly 
dined  to-day  in  the  first  college  of  the  first  university  in 
the  world." 

W  riting  August  8,  he  refers  to  this  again :  "  It  was  no 
small  gratification  to  me  to  sit  on  the  same  seat  and  eat  at 
the  same  table  where  Charles  Wesley  sat  and  ate  nearly 
one  hundred  years  ago.  At  Christ  Church  the  Speaker  was 
educated.  I  believe  he  wrote  strongly  to  his  college  to 
show  me  every  respect ;  and  they  have  done  so. 

"After  my  labor  yesterday  at  the  Bodleian,  I  went  to 
visit  several  colleges,  and,  among  the  rest,  Lincoln,  of  which 
Mr.  John  Wesley  was  fellow.  One  of  the  poorest-looking 
of  the  colleges  ;  but  it  has  been  the  parent,  under  God,  of 
the  greatest  work  of  a  spiritual  and  reforming  nature  that 
has  appeared  upon  earth  since  the  second  century.  How 

IS 


274  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

many  millions  have  been  saved  since  John  and  Charles 
Wesley  first  gave  themselves  to  God  in  this  place!  And 
yet  this  city  is  like  the  coiners  in  our  Mint;  it  has  made 
the  gold  for  others,  and  is  not  thereby  enriched.  I  have 
been  here  four  days,  and  have  not  seen  the  face  of  a  Method- 
ist. I  am  going  this  evening  to  look  for  some,  that  I  may 
hear  some  kind  of  preaching  to-morrow  (Sunday)  that  will 
do  me  some  good.  Nobody  that  I  meet  knows  anything 
of  them.  In  this  case,  how  like  is  Oxford  to  Jerusalem  and 
Zion  !  The  law  proceeded  from  the  latter,  and  the  word 
(doctrine)  of  the  Lord  from  the  former ;  but  how  little  did 
either  Zion  or  Jerusalem  retain  of  either !  So  this  great 
work  of  God,  which  began  in  and  proceeded  from  Oxford, 
has  hallowed  the  whole  nation,  and  yet  Oxford  has  not  prof- 
ited by  it.  The  lines  of  Virgil  came  to  my  mind;  which 
Theo.  may  translate  to  you  : — 

'  Sic  vos  non  vobis  mellifieatis  apes  ; 
Sic  vos  non  vobis  nidificati  aves  ; 
Sic  vos  non  vobis  'seller a  fertis  oves  ; 
Sic  vos  non  vobis  fertis  aratra  boves.'1* 

"  As  far  as  Methodism  is.  concerned,  they  may  be  applied 
to  the  ancient  and  learned  city  and  university  of  Oxford." 

Resuming  his  work  in  London,  in  the  pulpit,  the  commit- 
tee-room, (and  especially  that  of  the  Bible  Society,)  in  vis- 
iting the  sick,  and  in  carrying  on  an  extensive  correspond- 
ence, always  answering  letters  as  soon  as  he  had  received 
them,  the  departing  year  left  him  swallowed  up  in  a  com- 
plication of  duties  which  tasked  his  strength  to  the  utmost. 
In  grappling  with  these  obligations,  days,  weeks,  and 
months  were  all  too  short.  "  You  know,"  says  he,  writing 
to  a  friend,  "  that  when  I  am  at  home  I  am  never  an  hour 

*  "  So  you,  ye  bees,  who  every  flower  explore, 
Not  for  yourselves  amass  the  honey'd  store. 
So  you,  ye  birds,  of  wondrous  skill  possest, 
Not  for  yourselves  construct  the  curious  nest. 
So  you,  ye  sheep,  who  roam  the  verdant  field, 
Not  for  yourselves  your  snowy  fleeces  yield. 
So  yon,  ye  patient  kinc  inured  to  toil, 
Not  Cor  voursolvoB  subdue  the  stubborn  soil." 


ITINERANCY.  275 

disengaged,  being  as  mere  a  slave  as  any  on  this  side  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules.  Every  hour  has  its  work,  and  such 
work  as  requires  every  minute  of  the  sixty.  Judge,  then, 
how  much  of  my  London  labor  was  behind,  after  an  absence 
of  five  weeks.  I  was  almost  terrified  to  return,  knowing 
what  a  chaos  I  should  find  to  reduce  to  order.  I  have  been 
laboring  to  bring  up  my  lee-way,  tugging  at  the  oar  for 
life.  You  may  think  that,  during  my  excursion,  I  must 
have  acquired  a  measure  of  additional  health,  and  am  the* 
better  able  to  ride  out  the  storm.  I  gained  no  ground,  but 
lost  some.  You  shall  judge.  I  traveled  by  mail  two 
nights  and  a  day  to  Liverpool ;  set  off  for  Stockport,  to 
preach  for  their  schools  :  collection,  £122.  I  then  rode  off 
for  Manchester ;  preached  the  same  evening  for  the  schools : 
collection,  £154.  Without  waiting  to  eat,  took  coach  for 
Nut  Grove,  near  St.  Helen's,  where  I  arrived  about  two 
o'clock  on  Monday  morning.  In  the  course  of  that  week  I 
preached  again  and  again.  The  next  Sabbath  morning  I  had 
to  preach  before  three  hundred  ministers.  .  .  .two  hours, 
enough  to  knock  up  or  knock  down  a  strong  man  for  a  fork 
night.  The  next  Sabbath,  at  Warrington,  for  a  Sunday 
school.  Friday,  for  Worcester,  to  open  a  new  chapel :  col- 
lection £211  4s.  One  hour  out  of  the  chapel,  and  I  began 
again,  a  second  sermon:  collection,  £100  Os.  9d.  Without 
waiting  to  eat,  set  off  on  my  way  to  Liverpool.  At  Penk- 
ridge  I  lay  down  about  three  hours  and  a  half,  bought  a 
penny  roll,  rode  again,  and  traveled  eighty  miles  without 
stopping  to  take  a  morsel  of  food  but  my  penny  roll.  After 
various  excursions  and  fatigues,  which  my  paper  will  not 
permit  me  to  enumerate,  I  got  back  to  London  with  a  de- 
crease both  of  mental  and  corporeal  energy,  to  gird  myself 
to  new  labors  no  less  exhausting  or  depressing  than  those 
through  which  I  have  passed." 

At  the  Conference  of  1814,  which  was  held  in  Bristol,  Dr. 
Clarke  was  elected  for  the  second  time  to  the  presidential 
chair,  and,  against  his  own  inclinations,  was  desired  to  prolong 
his  residence  in  London.  The  preceding  year  had  been  dis- 


276  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

tinguished  in  the  annals  of  Methodism  by  the  formation  of 
the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society.  In  itself  essentially  a 
missionary  institution,  Methodism  has  always  put  forth  an 
evangelizing  energy  which  lives  with  its  life  and  extends 
with  its  extent,  "  spreads  undivided,"  and,  we  may  safely 
add,  yet  "  operates  unspent."  The  Wesleys  themselves 
labored  as  missionaries  in  Georgia;  and  while  as  yet  the 
system  in  England  had  but  comparatively  "  a  little  strength," 
it  stretched  its  arm  across  the  Atlantic,  and  turned  vast  re- 
gions of  that  continent  from  a  moral  wilderness  into  a  fruit- 
ful field.  In  1769  Messrs.  Boardman  and  Pilmor  went  from 
the  Conference,  with  fifty  pounds,  to  America,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  what  is  now  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
with  its  universities,  schools,  Bible  and  Missionary  Societies, 
its  apostolic  bishops,  its  thousands  of  ordained  ministers, 
its  thousands  more  of  local  preachers  and  exhorters,  and  a 
body  of  communicants  greatly  exceeding  a  million. 

Among  the  men  who  took  a  prominent  part  in  these 
great  movements  was  one  whose  revered  name  is  indissolu- 
bly  joined  with  the  cause  of  Christian  missions,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Thomas  Coke.  This  great  evangelist  carried  the  Gos- 
pel to  myriads  beyond  the  western  sea,  both  on  the  conti- 
nent and  in  the  islands.  The  slave  population  of  the  West 
Indies  heard  from  his  lips  the  truth  which  was  destined  to 
set  free ;  the  truth  which,  as  to  civil  liberty,  trained  them  to 
receive  it,  and  meanwhile  made  multitudes  of  them  par- 
takers of  the  more  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.  In 
the  prosecution  of  these  blessed  embassies  the  Doctor 
crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean  eighteen  times ;  and  at  length,  at 
an  advanced  age,  fulfilling  the  last  wish  of  his  heart — the 
establishment  of  a  mission  to  India  and  the  East — he  died 
at  sea  on  the  2d  of  May,  1815. 

The  West  India  missions  had  not  only  been  originated, 
and  hitherto  superintended,  by  Dr.  Coke,  but,  we  may  say, 
they  had  been  supported  by  him ;  largely  from  his  own 
private  resources,  and  more  adequately  by  his  unwearied 
diligence  in  collecting  for  them,  literally  from  door  to  door. 


ITINERANCY.  277 

The  present  writer  well  remembers  him,  as  coming  again 
and  again  to  his  father's  house,  book  hi  hand,  to  receive  the 
accustomed  subscription.  He  may  be  also  permitted  to 
record  his  reminiscence  of  hearing  the  Doctor  preach  his 
last  sermon  in  England,  on  the  eve  of  his  embarkation  for 
the  East ;  the  text  being  the  prophecy  in  the  sixty-eighth 
Psalm:  "Ethiopa  shall  soon  stretch  out  her  hands  unto 
God."  *  It  may  be  easily  conceived  that  the  loss  of  such  a 
man  would  be  felt  as  a  heavy  blow  to  the  Methodist  mis- 
sions. But  He  whose  ways  are  not  as  our  ways  willed  that 
this  very  loss  should  tend  rather  to  the  furtherance  of  the 
Gospel.  A  new  sense  of  obligation  to  take  this  great  cause 
in  hand  more  fully  took  possession  of  the  minds  both  of  min- 
isters and  people  ;  and  the  result  was  the  rapid  organization 
of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  which,  rising  from 
small  beginning,  has  taken  a  rank  among  the  beneficent 
institutions  of  Christianity  scarcely  second  to  any.  Its 
ordained  agents,  including  those  who  have  relation  to  the 
affiliated  Conferences,  are  more  than  six  hundred  in  number, 
besides  some  nine  hundred  salaried  catechists,  interpreters, 
exhorters,  etc.,  and  more  than  ten  thousand  unpaid  agents. 
By  its  means  the  Gospel  is  preached  hi  more  than  twenty 
languages  at  three  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty  places  in 
various  parts  of  Europe,  India,  China,  Southern  and  West- 
ern Africa,  the  West  Indies,  Australia,  Canada,  and  East- 
ern British  America.  Within  the  forty  years  of  its  exist- 
ence, immense  multitudes,  who  are  now  with  the  dead,  have 
heard  by  it  the  tidings  of  salvation  ;  and  myriads  have  been 
gathered  into  the  Church,  who,  in  life  and  death,  have  giveu 
good  evidence  that  they  found  those  tidings  true ;  while  at 
present  114,528  Church-members  are  under  the  care  of  the 

*  Dr.  Coke  was  accompanied  at  that  time  by  several  newly  ordained 
ministers,  whom  he  was  taking  with  him  to  Ceylon,  which  he  intended 
to  make  the  pivot  of  extensive  operations  in  the  East.  Of  this  band  of 
missionaries  only  two  survive  —  the  Bev.  Messrs.  Squance  and  Lynch, 
[Dr.  Harvard,  the  historian  of  the  mission,  has  departed  since  the  pre- 
ceding lines  were  written.] 


278  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

missionaries,  with  94,500  children,  who  receive  instruction 
in  their  schools. 

Into  this  new  development  of  Christian  zeal  Dr.  Clarke 
entered  with  his  whole  soul.  Henceforward  a  new  claim 
on  his  time  and  strength,  as  an  advocate  of  the  missionary 
cause,  was  often  enough  made ;  but  never,  if  it  could  be 
met,  was  it  slighted  or  refused.  At  the  first  Missionary 
meeting  held  in  City  Road  chapel,  December,  1814,  he  pre- 
sided, and  delivered  an  inaugural  discourse,  which  was  after- 
ward published  under  the  title  of  "  A  short  Account  of  the 
Introduction  of  the  Gospel  into  the  British  Isles  ;  and  the 
Obligation  of  Britons  to  make  known  its  Salvation  to  every 
Nation  of  the  Earth."* 

The  Commentary,  too,  was  now  in  rapid  progress ;  and, 
in  transmitting  one  of  the  parts  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  the  author  accompanied  it  with  a  letter,  an 
extract  from  which  is  here  given,  on  account  of  the  refer- 
ences made  in  it  to  that  communion  whose  interests  and 
honor  the  Doctor  ever  delighted  to  identify  with  his  own : 

"As  the  people  with  whom  I  am  religiously  connected 
are  not  only  very  numerous,  but  of  considerable  weight  in 
the  land,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  show  them  that  those  sacred 
oracles  from  which  they  derive  the  principles  of  their  faith 
and  practice  are  in  perfect  consonance  with  those  of  the 
British  Constitution,  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Established 
Church :  not  that  I  doubted  their  loyalty  or  attachment  to 
the  State  or  the  Church,  but  to  manifest  to  them  and  future 
generations  the  absolute  necessity  of  holding  fast  that  '  form 
of  sound  words'  which  distinguishes  our  national  Church, 
and  ever  connects  the  fear  of  God  with  honor  to  the  king. 

"  Sir,  it  is  with  the  most  heartfelt  pleasure  that  I  can  state 

*  The  City  Road  meeting  was  not  the  first,  (that  at  Leeds  hacPthe 
priority,)  but  the  first  for  the  metropolitan  district.  The  Leeds  meeting 
was  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  connection.  Among  the  speakers  on 
that  occasion  were  the  Rev.  Messrs.  IJuntinir.  Morley,  and  Watson,  who 
not  only  thus  assisted  at  laying  the  foundation,  but  in  after  years,  as 
General  Secretaries  of  the  Society,  contributed  invaluable  service  iu 
upraising  this  colossal  work  of  mercy. 


ITINERANCY.  279 

to  you,  that  this  immense  body  of  people  are,  from  conscience 
and  affection,  attached  to  the  constitution  both  in  Church  and 
State ;  and  the  late  decisions  in  behalf  of  religious  toleration 
have  powerfully  served  to  rivet  that  attachment." 

The  duties  of  Dr.  Clarke's  second  presidential  year  M-ere 
largely  augmented,  as  already  intimated,  by  the  formation 
of  various  Branch  Missionary  Societies  in  different  parts  of 
the  kingdom ;  for  which,  and  other  religious  interests,  he 
undertook  extensive  journeys,  in  the  course  of  which  we  find 
him  preaching  and  holding  public  meetings  in  Bristol  and 
Bath,  in  Exeter,  Plymouth,  and  some  parts  of  Cornwall ; 
and  then,  northward,  in  Birmingham,  Liverpool,  and  other 
places.  Everywhere  crowds  hung  upon  his  lips,  and  the 
word  preached  came  with  the  saving  power  of  grace  to  the 
hearts  of  many,  while  it  stirred  up  the  various  Churches  thus 
visited,  by  thoughts  of  "  whatsoever  things  are  true,"  and 
"  honest,"  and  "  lovely,"  and  "  of  good  report,"  to  give  the 
greater  diligence  in  making  their  own  election  sure,  and  pro- 
moting the  cause  of  their  Saviour  in  the  world.  At  the 
Conference  held  in  Manchester,  he  gave  up  the  insignia  of 
the  office  he  had  so  well  sustained  into  the  hands  of  his  suc- 
cessor, the  Rev.  John  Barber,  a  venerable  servant  of  Christ, 
who,  as  the  event  proved,  was  then  within  a  few  months  of 
the  termination  of  his  earthly  course. 

With  Dr.  Clarke  the  time  had  now  happily  come  when 
the  same  Providence  which  had  dictated  his  longer  residence 
in  London,  was  about  to  open  to  him  the  doors  of  a  more 
tranquil  retreat,  where  he  would  be  enabled,  with  greater 
freedom  from  interruption,  to  prosecute  those  theologic  es- 
says he  was  so  anxious  to  complete  before  the  arrival  of  the 
fast  approaching  time  when  he  too  should  "  cease  at  once  to 
work  and  live."  "  I  have  made  up  my  mind,"  says  he,  "  if 
God  will  open  me  a  way,  to  leave  this  distracting  city,  and 
get  out  of  the  way  even  of  a  turnpike-road,  that  I  may  get 
as  much  out  of  every  passing  hour  as  I  can.  I  ought  to 
have  no  work  at  present  but  the  Commentary  ;  for  none  can 
comprehend  the  trouble,  and  often  anguish,  which  the  writ- 


280  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

ing  of  these  notes  costs  me ;  and  what  adds  to  the  perplexity, 
is  the  multitude  of  little  things  to  which  almost  incessantly 
my  attention  is  demanded.  Matters  are  come  to  this — if  I 
do  not  at  once  get  from  many  of  my  avocations,  I  shall  soon 
be  incapable  of  prosecuting  any.  I  must  hide  my  head  in 
the  country,  or  it  will  shortly  be  hidden  in  the  grave." 

This  was  a  decision  which,  in  regard  to  various  philan- 
thropic institutions  in  London,  to  which  he  had  long  given 
his  gratuitous  and  effective  aid,  as  well  as  to  the  feelings  of 
a  multitude  who  had  greatly  profited  under  his  ministry, 
could  only  be  unwelcome,  except  for  the  personal  relief  it 
would  give  to  one  so  highly  honored  and  esteemed,  whose 
added  years,  it  was  well  believed,  would  be  fully  consecrated 
to  the  same  great  objects  which  had  commanded  the  days 
of  the  past. 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAK.        281 


CHAPTEE  YIII. 

THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAE. 

HITHERTO  our  narrative  has  turned  mainly  on  those  inci- 
dents of  life,  and  traits  of  character,  which  relate  to  the  sub- 
ject of  our  memoir  as  a  Christian  minister ;  but  a  biography 
of  Adam  Clarke  would  be  essentially  defective,  in  which  a 
respectful  homage  was  not  rendered  to  his  memory  as  a 
scholar  and  a  man  of  letters.  Unhappily,  the  scanty  limits 
of  the  present  work  will  not  allow  of  extensive  disquisition 
on  this  topic,  were  the  writer  ever  so  well  able  to  indulge 
in  it.  Necessity  prescribes  that  our  pages  shouM  teem 
with  facts  rather  that  fancies,  and  should  treasure  up  ma- 
terials which  the  thoughtful  reader  may  make  the  subject  of 
his  own  conclusions.  For  myself,  I  enter  on  this  chapter 
with  a  mortifying  sense  of  insufficiency.  I  am  not  going  to 
affect  the  critic,  or  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  intellect  and 
learning  of  a  man  the  lachet  of  whose  shoes  I  should  have 
been  unworthy  to  unloose.  On  the  other  hand,  I  may  be 
doing  a  pleasurable  service  to  my  readers  by  collecting  and 
setting  down  such  notices  of  his  mental  development  as 
have  been  given,  here  and  there,  by  Dr.  Clarke  himself,  or 
by  those  who  knew  him  intimately. 

We  are  first  led  back  to  the  village  school  in  Ireland, 
where  the  child,  under  the  indignant  glance  of  his  disap- 
pointed and  anxious  father,  tried  to  learn,  but  could  not. 
The  circumstances  under  which  this  physical  inability  was 
overcome  have  been  already  detailed.  His  intellect  seemed 
to  undergo  a  sudden  regeneration.  The  ability  to  learn  was 
given  him,  as  it  were,  in  an  instant  of  time.  In  his  own 
words,  "  it  was  not  acquired  by  slow  degrees ;  there  was  no 
conquest  over  inaptitude  and  dullness  by  persevering  and 


282  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

gradual  conflict ;  the  power  seemed  generated  in  a  moment, 
and  in  a  moment  there  was  a  transition  from  darkness  to 
light,  from  mental  imbecility  to  intellectual  vigor ;  and  no 
means  nor  excitements  were  brought  into  operation  but 
those  mentioned  in  the  narrative.*  The  reproaches  of  his 
schoolfellow  were  the  spark  which  fell  on  the  gunpowder 
and  inflamed  it  instantly.  The  inflammable  material  was 
there  before,  but  the  spark  was  wanting.  This  would  be  a 
proper  subject  for  the  discussion  of  those  who  write  on  the 
philosophy  of  the  human  mind." 

Dr.  Clarke  always  considered  this  incident  as  having  an 
important  bearing  on  his  destiny,  and  often  mentioned  it  as 
"  a  singular  providence  which  gave  a  strong  characteristic 
coloring  to  his  subsequent  life."  He  says  that  it  may  not 
be  unworthy  the  consideration  of  the  instructors  of  youth, 
but  may  teach  the  masters  of  the  rod  and  ferula  that  those 
are  not  the  instruments  of  instruction,  though  proper  enough 
for  the  correction  of  the  obstinate  and  indolent ;  that  mo- 
tives to  emulation,  and  the  prevention  of  disgrace,  may  be 
in  some  cases  more  effectual  than  any  punishment  inflicted 
on  the  flesh.  "  Let  not  the  reader  imagine  from  this  de- 
tail," says  he,  "  that  Adam  Clarke  found  no  difficulty  after- 
ward in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  He  ever  found  an 
initial  difficulty  to  comprehend  anything;  and  till  he  could 
comprehend  in  some  measure  the  reason  of  a  thing,  he  could 
not  acquire  the  principle  itself.  In  this  respect  there  was  a 
great  difference  between  him  and  his  brother ;  the  latter 
apprehended  a  subject  at  first  sight,  and  knew  as  much  of  it 
in  a  short  time  as  ever  he  knew  after ;  the  former  was  slow 
in  apprehension,  and  proceeded  with  great  caution  till  he 
was  sure  of  his  principles ;  he  then  went  forward  with  vigor, 
in  pushing  them  to  their  utmost  legitimate  consequences." 

These  two  brothers  had  for  some  time  but  an  interrupted 

school  tuition,  from  the  demand  which  the  garden  and  fields 

made  upon  their  labor.     "  Before  and  after  school  hours 

was  the  only  time  their  father  could  do  anything  in  his  little 

*  See  page  14,  supra. 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        283 

farm ;  the  rest  of  the  toil,  except  in  those  times  when  seve- 
ral hands  must  be  employed  to  plant  and  sow  and  gather  in 
the  fruits  of  the  earth,  was  performed  by  his  two  sons. 
This  cramped  their  education,  but — labor  omnia  vincit  im- 
probus;  the  two  brothers  went  'day  about'  to  school,  and 
he  who  had  the  advantage  of  the  day's  instruction  remem- 
bered all  he  could,  and  imparted  on  his  return  to  him  who 
continued  in  the  farm  all  the  knowledge  he  had  acquired  in 
the  day.  Thus  they  were  alternately  instructors  and  schol- 
ars, and  each  taught  and  learned  for  the  other.  This  was  mak- 
ing the  best  of  their  circumstances  ;  and  such  a  plan  is  much 
more  judicious  than  that  which  studies  to  make  one  son  a 
scholar  while  the  others  are  the  drudges  of  the  family, 
whereby  jealousies  and  feuds  are  often  generated."  * 

No  doubt  this  alternation  of  rustic  exercise  with  school 
seclusion  had  a  good  effect  in  strengthening  the  child's  phy- 
sical constitution,  and  in  contributing  to  insure  him  a 
healthy  mind  in  a  healthy  body.  Good  air  and  exercise  have 
a  wondrous  influence  in  giving  tone  to  the  intellect,  as  in 
after  life  Adam  Clarke  found,  when,  a  wandering  itinerant, 
he  read  many  a  book  and  thought  out  many  a  sermon  sub 
dio,  on  the  high  road,  or  in  the  wayside  field.  So  in  his 
school  days,  in  summer  time,  his  lessons  were  often  conned 
in  the  open  air.  "The  school,"  he  tells  us,  "was  situated 
in  the  skirt  of  a  wood  on  a  gently  rising  eminence,  behind 
which  a  hill,  thickly  covered  with  bushes  of  different  kinds 
and  growth,  rose  to  a  considerable  height.  In  front  of  this 
there  was  a  great  variety  of  prospect  both  of  hill  and  dale, 
where,  in  their  seasons,  all  the  operations  of  husbandry 
might  be  distinctly  seen.  The  boys  who  could  be  trusted 
were  permitted  in  the  fine  weather  to  go  into  the  wood  to 
study  their  lessons."  On  this  pleasant  slope,  with  the 
auburn  and  purple  moorlands  spread  out  before  him,  the 
sunlit  sea  in  the  distance,  and  the  smoke  from  the  cottage 
chimneys  here  and  there  rising  into  the  quiet  sky,  the  boy 
would  find  that  the  pages  of  Virgil  had  a  charm  which  made 
*  Autobiography. 


284  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

the  task  of  construing,  a  labor  of  love.  "  Quid  facial  Icetas 
segetes"  etc.,  would  have  a  commentary  on  the  page  of  na- 
ture before  him,  as  well  as  in  the  words  of  the  annotator  in 
the  margin. 

"  What  makes  a  plenteous  harvest ;  when  to  turn 
The  fruitful  soil,  and  when  to  sow  the  corn ; 
The  care  of  sheep,  of  oxen,  and  of  kine ; 
And  how  to  raise  on  elms  the  teeming  vine ; 
The  birth  and  genius  of  the  frugal  bee, 
I  sing,  Maecenas,  and  1  sing  to  thee.'  * 

"In  this  most  advantageous  situation,"  to  quote  his  own 
words,  "  Adam  read  the  Eclogues  and  Georgics  of  Virgil, 
where  he  had  almost  every  scene  described  in  those  poems, 
exhibited  in  real  life  before  his  eyes.  If  ever  he  enjoyed 
real  intellectual  happiness,  it  was  in  that  place  and  in  that 
line  of  study.  These  living  scenes  were  often  finer  com- 
ments on  the  Roman  poet  than  all  the  labored  notes  and 
illustrations  of  the  Delphin  editors  and  the  Variorum 
critics." 

The  glimpses  which  his  school  books  gave  into  the  by- 
gone times  of  Greek  and  Roman  history,  awoke  in  his  mind 
a  strong  desire  to  become  more  fully  acquainted  with  them  ; 
and,  among  other  methods  which  his  scanty  means  allowed 
him,  he  procured  "  an  old  copy  of-  Littleton's  Dictionary, 
and  made  himself  master  of  all  the  proper  names,  so  that 
there  was  neither  person  nor  place  in  the  classic  world  of 
which  he  could  not  give  an  account.  This  made  him  of 
great  consideration  among  his  schoolfellows,  and  most  of 
them  in  all  the  forms  generally  applied  to  him  for 
information." 

His  love  of  reading  had  already  become  intense  and  un- 
conquerable. "To  gratify  this  passron,  he  would  undergo 
any  privations.  The  pence  that  he  and  his  brother  got, 
they  carefully  saved  for  the  purchase  of  some  book.  .  .  . 
Theirs  was  but  a  little  library,  but  to  them  right  precious." 
He  gives  a  list  of  some  of  the  books ;  where,  with  Jack  the 

*  Georgica,  i. 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        285 

Giant-killer,  we  have  Guy,  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  Seven 
Wise  Masters,  the  Nine  Worthies  of  the  World,  the 
Seven  Champions,  Sir  Francis  Drake,  Robinson  Crusoe, 
and  Montelion,  or  the  Knight  of  the  Oracle ;  the  Gentle 
Shepherd,  the  Peruvian  Tales,  and  the  Arabian  Nights' 
Entertainments,  with  many  others. 

In  those  fanciful  days  he  greatly  delighted  himself  with 
whatever  books  he  could  get  of  a  romantic  kind,  written  in 
a  metrical  form ;  and,  as  he  grew  up,  he  became  extensively 
read  in  the  popular  ballad  literature,  both  of  England  and 
Ireland.  In  after  years  he  used  to  boast  that  his  library 
contained  some  of  the  choicest  specimens  of-  the  old  poetic 
romances.  His  mind,  indeed,  may  not  have  been  poetical ; 
and  the  pleasure  which  in  later  days  he  found  in  that  de- 
scription of  reading,  resulted  rather  from  the  insight  it  gave 
him  into  the  manners  and  feelings  of  past  generations,  than 
from  any  sympathy  with  the  charms  of  the  poem  itself. 
In  that  respect  he  read  only  as  an  antiquarian.  Thus,  re- 
ferring to  the  metrical  ballads  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  he  said : 
"  I  scarcely  ever  give  myself  the  trouble  to  read  the  poetry ; 
the  notes  are  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  book  to  me, 
and  these  I  can  convert  to  my  own  purposes."  Nor  is  it 
at  all  improbable  that  the  first  impulse  of  his  mind  to  an- 
tiquarian studies  was  communicated  by  his  converse,  in 
childhood,  with  these  versified  traditions  of  the  past. 

Nor  was  he  without  some  skill  in  those  days  in  string- 
ing rhymes  together.  A  specimen  which  has  come  down 
to  us,  composed  "  one  Saturday  afternoon,  at  a  time  when 
he  had  not  learned  to  write  small  hand,  so  that  he  was 
obliged  to  employ  his  brother  to  write  down  the  verses 
from  his  lips,"  shows,  if  not  a  precocity  of  genius,  yet  an 
amount  of  talent  which,  if  cultivated,  would  have  given  him 
a  place,  at  least,  among  our  second-rate  poets.* 

Along  with  his  classical  lessons  at  school,  in  Greek  and 
Latin,  he  received  some  instruction  in  mathematics  and 

*  It  may  be  seen  in  his  autobiography.    Life  by  Mrs.  Smith,  vol.  i, 
page  40. 


286  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

French;  in  which  departments  a  good  foundation  was  laid 
for  the  progressive  attainments  of  coming  life.  One  cir- 
cumstance we  should  not  omit :  He  tells  us  he  found  it 
much  easier  to  learn  after  his  conversion  to  God.  "  Though 
he  could  not  well  enter  into  the  spirit  of  Lucian  and  Juve- 
nal, which  he  then  read,  yet  he  was  surprised  to  find  how 
easy,  in  comparison  of  former  times,  learning  appeared. 
The  grace  which  he  had  received  greatly  illumined  and 
improved  his  understanding,  and  learning  now  seemed  to 
him  little  more  than  an  exercise  of  memory.  He  has  often 
said :  '  After  I  found  the  peace  of  God,  I  may  safely  assert 
that  I  learned  more  in  one  day  than  I  could  formerly  in  a 
month.  And  no  wonder ;  my  soul  began  to  rise  out  of 
the  ruins  of  its  fall,  by  the  favor  of  the  Eternal  Spirit.  I 
found  that  religion  was  the  gate  to  true  learning,  and  that 
they  who  went  through  their  studies  without  it  had  double 
work  to  do.'" 

In  English  reading,  he  was  engaged  at  this  time  with 
some  very  good  books,  which  were  sanctified  to  his  im- 
provement both  in  mind  and  heart.  Such  were  the  works 
of  Derham  and  Ray.  He  read  them  with  Kersey's  and 
Martin's  Dictionaries  by  him  for  the  explanation  of  techni- 
cal words.  Baxter's  "Saints'  Everlasting  Rest,"  and  the 
Life  of  the  devoted  Brainerd,  he  perused  with  solemn  and 
prayerful  joy.  These  two  latter  books  seem  to  have  given 
him  a  great  impulse  toward  the  ministry ;  and  this  was 
pmliably  what  he  meant  when,  expressing  his  obligations 
to  Mrs.  Rutherford,  who  had  lent  them  to  him,  he  said  that 
it  was  she  who  had  made  him  a  preacher. 

Such  was  the  stage  of  mental  culture  he  had  attained, 
when  entering,  under  the  circumstances  already  related,  on 
the  life  and  labors  of  an  itinerant  Methodist  preacher.  On 
J'-aviug  Ireland  for  Kingswood,  these  treasures  of  the  mind 
were  his  only  patrimony.  Even  of  books  of  his  own  he  had 
scarcely  any  to  take  away.  "  I  brought  from  home  an  En- 
glish Bihle,,  a  Greek  Testament,  Prideaux's  Connection,  and 
Y" ling's  Ni^lit  Thoughts,  on  the  margin  of  which  I  had  writ- 


*THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        287 

ten  a  number  of  notes.  It  was  a  favorite  with  some  of  my 
children,  and  remained  in  the  family  when  the  others  had 
gone.  Young  I  twice  recaptured ;  once  from  Anna,  and  once 
from  Eliza ;  but  where  it  now  is  I  cannot  tell." 

In  the  first  circuit  some  few  attempts  were  made  to  keep 
up  his  classical  reading,  but  with  little  effect,  from  the  want 
of  suitable  books,  and  the  necessity  of  preparation  for  the 
constant  work  of  preaching,  on  which  he  had  now  fully  en- 
tered. In  the  course  of  the  year,  as  we  have  seen,  he  was 
induced  by  the  influence  of  well-meant  but  barbarous  advice 
to  give  up  scholastic  learning  altogether.  Yet  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  the  four  years'  recess  from  those  par- 
ticular studies,  which  followed  his  adoption  of  that  advice, 
was  really  detrimental  to  his  mental  education^  considered  as 
a  whole.  A  man  requires  something  more  than  Greek  and 
Latin  to  be  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  A  mere  classical 
scholar,  whose  mind  is  not  stored  with  general  knowledge, 
and  whose  reasoning  faculties  are  suffered  to  lie  dormant,  is 
but  poorly  fitted  for  the  grand  labors  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry ;  and  Adam  Clarke,  while  he  left  Homer  and  Virgil  to 
their  repose,  was  earnestly  engaged  in  gathering  in,  and  in 
giving  forth  to  others,  the  precious  fruits  of  that  knowledge 
of  the  word  and  ways  of  God  which  makes  the  moral  life  of 
man  strong,  healthy,  and  beautiful.  He  began  the  study  of 
the  Hebrew  Bible,  read  a  good  deal  in  French,  and  made 
his  first  essay  in  authorship  itself,  by  translating  some  of  the 
Abbe  Maury's  Discourse  on  Pulpit  Eloquence  for  the  Ar- 
minian  Magazine.  He,  moreover,  enlarged  his  acquaintance 
with  the  works  of  the  great  English  theologians.  He  read 
widely  and  diligently,  morning,  noon,  and  night,  not  only  in 
his  different  places  of  sojourn,  but  in  walking  and  riding  as 
well.  Thus  those  years  were  by  no  means  lost,  but,  prob- 
ably, more  substantially  improved  than  they  would  have 
been  by  the  bald  word-studies  he  had  been  led  for  that  time 
to  abandon.  However  this  be  considered,  the  time  came 
when  he  could  conscientiously  resume  them.  Mr.  Wesley, 
to  whom  in  1786  he  had  sent  the  translation  from  Maury, 


288  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE.       «• 

in  kindly  acknowledging  it,  charged  him  "  to  cultivate  his 
mind,  as  far  as  his  circumstances  would  allow,  and  not  to 
forget  anything  he  had  ever  learned"  "This,"  says  he, 
"  was  a  word  in  season,  and,  next  to  the  Divine  oracles,  of 
the  highest  authority  with  Mr.  C.  He  began  to  reason  with 
himself  thus :  '  What  would  he  have  me  to  do  ?  He  cer- 
tainly means  that  I  should  not  forget  the  Latin  and  Greek 
which  I  have  learned ;  but  then  he  does  not  know  that  by  a 
solemn  vow  I  have  abjured  the  study  of  those  languages  for- 
ever. But  was  such  a  vow  lawful "?  Is  the  study  of  Hebrew 
and  Greek,  the  languages  in  which  God  has  given  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  sinful  1  It  must  have  been  laudable 
in  some,  else  we  should  have  had  no  translations.  Is  it 
likely  that  what  must  have  been  laudable  in  those  who  have 
translated  the  sacred  writings,  can  be  sinful  in  any,  especially 
in  ministers  of  God's  holy  word  ?  I  have  made  the  vow,  it 
is  true ;  but  who  required  it  ?  What  have  I  gained  by  it  1 
I  was  told  it  was  dangerous,  and  would  fill  me  with  pride, 
and  pride  would  lead  me  to  perdition :  but  who  told  me  so  ? 

Could  Mr. ,  at  whose  suggestions  I  abandoned  all  these 

studies,  be  considered  as  a  competent  judge?  I  fear  I  have 
been  totally  in  error,  and  that  my  vow  may  rank  with  rash 
ones.  Which,  then,  is  the  greater  evil,  to  keep  it,  or  to 
break  it  ?  I  should  beg  pardon  from  God  for  having  made 
it ;  and,  if  it  were  sinful  to  make,  it  is  so  to  keep  it.'  So 
he  kneeled  down,  and  begged  God  to  forgive  the  rash  vow, 
and  to  undo  any  obligation  which  might  remain.  He  arose 
satisfied  that  he  had  done  wrong  in  making  it,  and  that  it 
was  his  duty  now  to  cultivate  his  mind  in  every  way,  to  be 
a  workman  needing  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the 
word  of  truth." 

In  resuming  the  classics,  he  found  he  had  so  far  forgotten 
the  grammatical  forms,  as  to  be  obliged  to  begin  almost  de 
novo.  But  he  now  took  care  to  lay  the  foundations  strongly 
in  acquiring  the  Greek  and  Latin  accidences;  and,  going  to 
work  in  good  earnest,  soon  regained  what  had  been  lost,  and 
thenceforth  made  steady  advancements. 


*  THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        289 

From  the  time  of  his  appointment  to  Bristol,  after  his 
return  from  the  Channel  Islands,  he  was  unusually  success- 
fill  in  gathering  together  in  his  library  the  best  editions  of 
the  classical  authors,  and  spread  out  his  reading  in  all  direc- 
tions, till  in  the  lapse  of  years,  spent  in  persevering  study, 
he  had  become  familiar  with  the  great  authors  of  antiquity, 
from  Homer  and  Herodotus  down  to  the  Neo-Platonists  of 
Alexandria  and  the  Byzantine  annalists.  In  communion 
with  these  great  minds  he  lived  through  the  ages  of  the  past : 
he  saw,  in  the  drama  of  the  Iliad,  Troy  sink  in  flame  and 
thunder ;  he  wandered  with  Ulysses  in  his  homeward  way, 
and  voyaged  with  the  Argonauts  through  the  gorgeous  scenes 
portrayed  by  Appolonius.  He  sat  with  Theocritus  among 
the  wild  thyme  of  the  Sicilian  hills ;  with  Hannibal  he  gazed 
on  Italy  from  the  Alpine  rocks  ;  and  stood  with  Scipio  amid 
the  ruins  of  Carthage.  He  heard  Demosthenes  on  the  Pnyx, 
Cicero  at  the  bar,  and  Plato  in  the  academic  grove.  And 
these  sights  and  voices  of  times  forever  gone  did  not  yield 
him  pleasure  only,  they  brought  him  profit ;  he  read  with  a 
purpose,  and  made  every  acquisition  subservient  to  the 
great  design  of  his  life,  the  elucidation  of  the  Bible,  and  the 
advancement  of  religious  truth  among  mankind.  He  had 
ascertained  that  all  knowledge  helped  to  promote  this  end  ; 
and  wherever  it  was  to  be  obtained,  there  was  he.  Ubi 
mel,  ibi  apis;  and,  like  the  bee,  he  gathered  honey  from 
every  flower.  This  profiting  appears  to  all  who  are  ac- 
quainted with  his  works,  and  especially  in  the  Commentary, 
in  reading  which  we  see  how  affluent  was  the  author's  eru- 
dition, and  with  what  advantage  he  employs  it  in  illustrating 
the  sacred  text,  seeking  to  bring  every  imagination  and 
thought  of  even  heathen  minds  into  subservience  to  the  cause 
of  Christ,  and  to  make  the  heroes,  historians,  poets,  and  phi- 
losophers of  the  pagan  world,  so  many  Nethinim,  to  do  such 
employment  as  they  could  in  the  courts  of  the  one  true  God. 

So,  too,  there  are  those  yet  living  who  remember  with  an 
unfading  pleasure  how  richly  the  conversation  of  Dr.  Clarke 
was  pervaded  with  choice  and  useful  allusions  derived  from 

19 


290  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

classic  literature ;    while,  occasionally,  an   hour   spent   in 
listening  to  him  yielded  as  much  profit  as  a  day's  reading. 

But,  respectable  as  were  his  attainments  in  what  is  strictly 
classic  erudition,  Dr.  Clarke  stands  out  more  prominently 
among  the  scholars  of  his  time  as  a  master  of  Oriental  learn- 
ing. In  this  respect  his  celebrity  is,  perhaps,  not  owing  so 
much  to  a  thorough  and  practical  acquaintance  with  the 
languages  of  the  East,  as  to  the  circumstance  that  the  culti- 
vation of  them  has  met  with  but  little  patronage  in  our 
country,  and  has  called  forth  the  resolute  energy  requisite 
to  excel  in  them  from  comparatively  few  of  the  scholars  of 
England.  It  is  true  that  life  is  short,  and  that  knowledge 
is  a  boundless  deep  ;  that,  where  the  whole  of  a  man's  years 
are  devoted  to  study,  he  cannot  learn  everything ;  and  that, 
in  general,  a  serious  application  to  the  classics  or  mathe- 
matics, combined  with  professional  duties,  will  not  allow 
men  to  meddle  with  Hebrew  or  Persian.  But  what  is  a 
just  matter  of  complaint  is,  that  when  men  have  been  led  to 
encounter  such  tasks,  and  have  so  far  succeeded  as  to  be 
able  to  promote  this  description  of  learning  through  the 
medium  of  the  press,  they  have  been  almost  uniformly  called 
to  suffer  for  it :  so  that  what  Solomon  the  king  wrote,  that 
"  he  who  increaseth  knowledge  inereaseth  sorrow,"  has  been 
fill  til  led  in  them.  The  greatest  work  in  Oriental  literature 
\\c  I'jiglish  possess,  next  to  the  London  Polyglot  Bible,  (it- 
self elaborated  with  much  anxiety,  as  well  as  toil,)  is  the 
Heptaglot  Lexicon  of  Edmund  Castel,*  in  the  completion 
of  which  the  author,  instead  of  winning  a  fortune,  spent  one, 
and  brought  himself  to  the  threshold  of  a  jail.  We  have  seen 
that  to  the  laudable  overtures  of  Dr.  Clarke  and  the  Rev. 

*  Dr.  Castel  labored  at  this  work  seventeen  years,  maintaining  at  his 
own  cost  seven  Englishmen  and  seven  foreign  scholars,  nil  of  whom  died 

before  the  work  was  finished.     His  own  fortune  nf  illi'j wu.s  exhausted 

in  the  undertaking:;  he  borrowed  £1,800  more,  and  was  then  obliged  to 
appeal  to  the  mercy  of  Charles  II.  ("  ne  career  esset  pnemium,  tot  lalm-um 
et  xumptitjt")  lest  a  prison  should  be  the  reward  of  such  labors  and  c\ 
pnisr.  His  Majesty  gave  him,  in  answer  to  this  appeal  —  a  begging  letter, 
t'j  the  bishops  and  nobility  ! 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        291 

Josiah  Pratt  for  a  new  edition  of  the  Polyglot,  no  response 
worth  naming  was  given ;  a  conclusion  almost  as  impotent 
as  what  followed  when  another  learned  person  published  a 
prospectus  for  a  new  edition  of  Meninski's  Thesaurus,  and 
received  in  return  the  name  of  one  subscriber,  and  that  one, 
not  an  Englishman,  but  a  Pole ! 

It  may  not  excite  great  surprise  that  the  dead  languages 
of  the  Orient  are  so  scantily  cultivated  in  our  schools  of 
learning ;  but  it  is  a  marvel  in  the  eyes  of  our  continental 
neighbors,  that  England,  with  such  extensive  relations  to  the 
East,  should  be  so  indifferent  to  the  knowledge  of  the  living 
tongues  of  the  people  whom  Providence  has  brought  under 
her  protection,  or  subjected  to  her  rule.  One  would  think 
her  Indian  and  Asiatic  interests  would  cause  the  study  of 
Sanskrit,  Hindustanee,  Arabic,  Armenian,  and  Persian  to 
become  almost  as  popular  as  German  or  French.  France, 
which  has  no  such  interests  to  operate  as  a  motive  to  the 
patronage  of  such  studies,  has  for  many  years  sustained  the 
means  of  a  gratuitous  prosecution  of  them  by  all  who  desire 
snch  advantages.  At  Paris,  where  I  have  for  months  to- 
gether enjoyed  the  privilege  of  lessons,  without  money  or 
price,  there  are  professors'  chairs  for  the  current  languages 
of  the  East,  free  of  access  to  all.  Great  patronage  is  also 
given  in  Germany,  and  even  in  Denmark,  to  the  same  pur- 
suits. From  the  imperial  press  at  Vienna  editions  of  the 
most  important  works  in  Oriental  learning  are  continually 
issuing,  while  the  Russian  government  makes  such  studies 
imperative  on  large  classes  of  its  subjects.  Every  country 
which  has  commercial  or  diplomatic  relations  with  Russia, 
has  its  linguistic  representatives  in  the  schools  of  St.  Peters- 
burg— Novo  Tcherskask,  Storopol,  and  Kazan — where  the 
languages  of  Circassia,  Tartary,  Turkey,  Persia,  Arabia,  In- 
dia, and  China,  form  a  regular  part  of  the  education  of  young 
men,  according  to  the  department  of  public  service  to  which 
they  are  destined.* 

*  An  excellent  advantage  for  men  preparing  for  missionaries.    Look  at 
the  Propaganda  at  Eonie.    They  study  there  all  the  languages  of  the  earth. 


292  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

In  England  some  progress  has  been  made  of  late  years, 
but  not  enough ;  far  from  enough  to  answer  to  the  scale  of 
our  advantages  or  our  duties.  In  addition  to  what  has  been 
done  in  the  establishment  at  Haileybury,  greater  effective- 
ness should  be  given  to  the  study  of  the  Oriental  languages 
in  our  universities,  by  more  stringent  requirements  and 
more  generous  rewards ;  and  in  the  metropolis  there  should 
be,  as-  in  Paris,  free  schools — or  if  we  cannot  afford  to  go  so 
far,  then  schools  at  an  easy  rate  of  payment — for  the  encour- 
agement of  hundreds  of  young  men  who  would  gratefully 
avail  themselves  of  such  a  privilege. 

To  return'  to  Dr.  Clarke :  The  first  bias  of  his  mind  to- 
ward this  kind  of  learning  seems  to  have  been  given  at  a 
very  early  time  of  life.  He  tells  us  that  the  reading  of  the 
"  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments  "  gave  him  that  decided 
taste  for  Oriental  history  which  proved  so  useful  to  him  in 
his  Biblical  studies.  He  wished  to  acquaint  himself  more 
particularly  with  races  of  people  whose  customs  and  man- 
ners, both  religious  and  civil,  were  so  strange  and  curious ; 
and  he  never  lost  sight  of  this  till  Divine  Providence  opene'd 
his  way,  and  put  the  means  in  his  power  to  gain  some  ac- 
quaintance with  the  principal  languages  of  the  East. 

Under  the  circumstances  already  related,  he  began  He- 
brew at  Trowbridge.  He  entered  Keartily  upon  it,  and  soon 
made  himself  master  of  as  much  as  could  be  gathered  from 
Bayley's  Grammar.  The  excellence  of  this  work  consists 
in  a  variety  of  copious  extracts  from  the  Bible,  with  a  trans- 
lation and  analysis ;  but,  as  a  grammar,  it  fails  to  give  a 
perspicuous  exhibition  of  the  forms  of  the  language,  and  is 
now  become  obsolete.  It  is,  however,  a  kind  of  amiable 
book ;  and  a  copy  is  worth  having.  Dr.  Bayley,  the  author, 
after  leaving  Kingswood,  obtained  some  church  preferment 
in  Manchester.  Mr.  Wesley  in  his  Journal  mentions  being 
once  his  guest  in  that  city,  and  expresses  the  pleasure  with 
which  he  heard  Miss  Bayley  read  a  Hebrew  psalm  at  the 
time  of  family  prayer. 

The  next  book  Mr.  Clarke  appears  to  have  got  at  Ply- 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        293 

mouth  was,  Leigh's  Critica  Sacra,  where  he  found  the  lit- 
eral sense  of  every  Greek  and  Hebrew  word  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  and  the  definitions  enriched  with  theological 
and  philological  notes  drawn  from  the  best  grammarians 
and  critics.  Just  lately  Dr.  Kennicott  had  then  published 
his  edition  of  the  Hebrew  Bible.  His  sister,  who  resided 
at  Plymouth  Dock,  lent  Mr.  Clarke  a  copy,  the  careful 
reading  of  which  gave  him  his  first  practical  knowledge  of 
Biblical  criticism. 

He  first  saw  the  Polyglot  Bible  in  the  public  library  at 
St.  Heller's,  Jersey.  When  first  settled  in  the  islands,  he 
had  set  to  work  on  Grabe's  Septuagint,  with  the  desire  to 
see  how  far  it  agreed  with  or  differed  from  the  Hebrew 
text,  with  which  he  had  now  become  pretty  familiar.  He 
found  that  the  Septuagint  threw  much  light  on  the  Hebrew ; 
the  translators,  who  had  advantages  we  do  not  possess,  hav- 
ing perpetuated  the  meaning  of  a  multitude  of  Hebrew 
words,  which  would  otherwise  have  passed  away.  He  read 
on  in  the  Septuagint  to  the  end  of  the  Psalms ;  noting  down 
the  most  important  differences  in  the  margin  of  a  quarto 
Bible  in  three  volumes,  which  was  afterward  unfortunately 
lost.  At  this  time  his  own  stock  of  books  was  very  small ; 
and,  having  no  living  teacher,  he  had  to  contend  with  diffi- 
culties at  every  stage.  But,  when  it  was  his  turn  to  serve 
in  Jersey,  he  made  all  the  use  he  could  of  the  public  library 
which  had  been  established  in  St.  Helier's  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Falle,  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  island,  and  its  historian. 
Here,  as  before  said,  he  had  the  use  of  Walton's  Polyglot. 
In  reading  the  Prolegomena  to  the  first  volume,  he  perceived 
the  importance  of  the  Oriental  versions  there  described,  and 
began  to  feel  an  intense  desire  to  read  them.  His  first  at- 
tempt was  with  the  Samaritan  text  of  the  Pentateuch.  This 
was  easy  work,  as  the  words  are  all  Hebrew,  only  expressed 
in  the  ancient  Samaritan  character,  which  he  very  soon 
learned.  This  Samaritan  text  must  be  distinguished  from 
the  Samaritan  version  of  the  Pentateuch,  which  is  a  different 
work.  The  text  is  an  invaluable  relict.  It  gives,  occasion- 


294  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

ally,  accounts  of  transactions  mentioned  by  Moses  which 
are  more  full  than  those  of  the  Hebrew  text ;  it  expresses 
the  words,  also,  more  fully;  gives  the  essential  vowels 
which  are  supplied  in  the  Hebrew  text  by  the  Masoretic 
points ;  and  contains  as  well  some  important  variations  in 
the  chronology.  The  Samaritan  version  is  a  Targum,  or 
paraphrase  on  the  text,  in  a  mongrel  dialect,  which,  with  an 
Aramaic  basis,  comprises  a  multitude  of  words,  Cuthite, 
Arabic,  and  Hebrew. 

"  Having  met  with  a  copy  of  Walton's  Introductio  ad 
Linguas  Orientates,  he  next  applied  himself  to  the  study  of 
the  Syriac."  From  that  little  manual,  however,  he  would 
get  no  further  instruction  in  Syriac  than  what  relates  to  the 
orthoepy  of  the  language ;  and  that  not  delivered  in  the 
plainest  manner.  He  was,  therefore,  thankful  for  the  addi- 
tional help  afforded  him  in  the  Scholia  Syriaca  of  Leusden. 
By  the  time  he  had  mastered  this,  he  was  able  to  consult 
any  text  in  the  Syriac  version  ;  so  that  the  Polyglot  became 
more  and  more  available  to  him.  "  All  the  time  he  could 
spare  from  the  duties  of  his  office,  he  spent  in  the  public 
library,  reading  and  collating  the  texts  in  the  Polyglot,  es- 
pecially the  Hebrew,  Samaritan,  Chaldee,  Syriac,  Vulgate, 
and  Septuagint.  The  Arabic,  Persian,  and  Ethiopic  he  did 
not  yet  attempt,  despairing  to  malce  any  improvement  in 
them  without  a  preceptor."  When  obliged  to  leave  the 
library,  he  cast  a  lingering  look  at  the  Polyglot,  and  sighed 
for  one  he  could  call  his  own.  Providence  gratified  his  de- 
sire, and  in  a  way  which  he  will  best  relate  for  himself: 
"  Knowing  that  he  could  not  always  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the 
public  library,  he  began  earnestly  to  wish  to  have  a  copy 
of  his  own ;  but  three  pounds  per  quarter,  and  his  food, 
(which  was  the  whole  of  his  income  as  a  preacher,)  could  ill 
supply  any  sum  for  the  purchase  of  books.  .  .  .  Yet  he  be- 
lieved that  God  in  the  course  of  his  providence  would  fur- 
nish him  with  this  precious  gift.  He  had  a  strong  <•< >i'(i- 
dence  that  by  some  means  or  other  he  should  get  a  Poly- 
glot. One  morning  a  preacher's  wife  who  lodged  in  the 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAK.  -      295 

same  family  said  :  '  Mr.  Clarke,  I  had  a  strange  dream  last 
night.'  'What  was  it,  Mrs.  D.  V  *  said  he.  'Why,  I 
dreamed  that  some  person  had  made  you  a  present  of  a 
Polyglot  Bible.'  He  answered,  '  Then  I  shall  get  one  soon, 
I  have  no  doubt.'  In  the  course  of  a  day  or  two  he  received 
a  letter  containing  a  bank-note  of  £10  from  a  person  from 
whom  he  never  expected  anything  of  the  kind.  He  imme- 
diately said :  '  Here  is  the  Polyglot.'  He  wrote  to  a  friend 
in  London,  who  procured  him  a  tolerably  good  copy,  the 
price  exactly  ten  pounds." 

Mr.  Clarke's  appointment  to  Bristol  afforded  him  yet 
greater  facilities.  He  had  access  to  some  important  libra- 
ries ;  and  from  the  large  collections  of  second-hand  books 
he  made  continual  accessions  to  his  own.  The  Rev.  Henry 
Moore,  referring  to  this  period  of  his  life,  says  :  "  I  met  him 
in  Bristol.  I  was  glad  to  see  a  considerable  alteration  in 
his  person,  though  still  nothing  approaching  the  clerical  cos- 
tume. I  found  he  had  been  a  hard  student,  and  had  made 
progress,  especially  in  Oriental  literature.  His  library 
alarmed  me.  He  had  among  his  other  works  a  Polyglot 
Bible,  and  he  seemed  determined  to  master  every  tongue  in 
it.  I  said,  '  Brother  Clarke,  you  have  got  a  choice  collection 
of  books;  but  what  will  you  do  with  them]  As  a  Meth- 
odist preacher,  you  cannot  give  them  that  attention  which 
they  demand.'  He  smiled,  and  said,  '  I  will  try.'  I  found 
he  had  been  trying  indeed.  To  an  improvement  in  Latin, 
Greek,  and  French,  he  had  added  a  considerable  knowledge 
of  Hebrew ;  and  he  showed  me  a  Chaldee  Grammar  which 
he  had  himself  written  out,  in  order  to  be  able  to  study  the 
whole  of  the  prophet  Daniel.  As  he  had  not  hitherto  been 
appointed  to  circuits  favorable  to  such  studies,  I  was  sur- 
prised at  the  advancement  he  had  made.  Our  common 
work  at  that  time  was  to  travel  two  or  three  hundred  miles 
in  a  month,  preach  generally  fifteen  times  in  a  week,  and  at- 
tend to  various  other  duties ;  and  if  Mr.  Wesley  heard  of 
a  very  studious  preacher,  he  was  sure  to  keep  him  at  that 

*  Mrs.  T)c  Qucti-villc. 


296  .  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

work,  lest  he  should  forget  or  lightly  esteem  the  great  de- 
sign of  God  to  which  [the  preachers]  were  expressly  called 
in  that  extraordinary  day;  which  was,  not  to  dispense 
knowledge  but  life,  even  life  from  the  dead.  Knowledge 
would  follow  of  course,  if  life  were  attained ;  but  zeal  and 
tender  love  for  souls  might  easily  be  lost.  His  concise 
charge,  when  he  received  them  as  his  helpers,  was  :  '  You 
have  nothing  to  do  but  to  save  souls ;  therefore  spend  and 
be  spent  therein.' " 

These  reflections  are  good  enough ;  but  there  was  no 
need  to  make  them  in  connection  with  Mr.  Clarke's  name, 
and  that  Mr.  Moore  knew  very  well.  Indeed,  he  immedi- 
ately adds  :  "  But  I  found  my  friend  had  not  neglected  this 
high  calling.  His  discourses  seldom  smelled  of  the  lamp, 
and  he  was  zealous  for  the  Lord."  Mr.  Clarke  fully  en- 
tered into  the  spirit  and  design  of  his  revered  father  in  the 
Gospel,  and  the  "Twelve  Rules  of  a  Helper,"  from  which 
Mr.  Moore  quotes  what  he  calls  Mr.  Wesley's  charge, 
were  never  more  heartily  observed  than  by  him.  In  his 
old  copy  of  the  "  Large  Minutes,"  I  find  his  mark  attached 
in  the  margin  to  the  first  of  these  Rules  :  "  Be  diligent ; 
never  be  unemployed  a  moment ;  never  be  triflingly  em- 
ployed. Never  while  away  time ;  neither  spend  any  more 
time  at  any  place  than  is  strictly  "necessary."  The  observ- 
ance of  that  rule  was  the  secret  of  the  "  progress,"  which 
astonished  not  his  friend  Moore  only,  but  many  besides. 

In  another  part  of  the  same  manual,  his  mark  stands  also 
in  the  margin  opposite  the  following  passage,  on  the  em- 
ployment of  time,  addressed  by  Mr.  Wesley  to  his  preach- 
ers:  "We  advise  you,  1.  As  often  as  possible  to  rise  at 
four.  2.  From  four  to  five  in  the  morning,  to  meditate, 
pray,  and  read,  partly  the  Scriptures  with  the  Notes,  partly 
the  closely  practical  parts  of  what  we  have  published. 
U.  From  six  in  the  morning  till  twelve,  allowing  an  hour 
for  breakfast,  to  read  in  order,  with  much  prayer,  the  Chris- 
tian Library,  and  the  other  books  which  we  have  published, 
in  prose  and  verso." 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAK.        297 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  Mr.  Wesley  never  intended 
his  preachers  should  be  ignorant  and  illiterate  men.  Here 
are  seven  hours  a  day  prescribed  for  study.  Very  few 
Methodist  ministers  in  the  present  day  can  afford  so  much 
time  for  their  books.  The  works  recommended  in  the 
Minute  were  not  of  course,  to  be  the  exclusive  reading  of 
the  preachers ;  for  elsewhere  Mr.  Wesley  gives  another  list 
of  works,  comprising  some  of  the  principal  of  the  classics, 
arranged  for  four  years'  study  ;  the  going  through  which, 
he  tells  the  preachers,  would  make  a  man  a  better  scholar 
than  many  a  graduate  of  the  universities. 

Two  years  later  Messrs.  Moore  and  Clarke  met  again, 
when  the  former  "  was  astonished  at  the  progress  "  the  latter 
"  had  made ;  he  seemed  to  have  Oriental  learning  at  his 
fingers'  ends."  While  residing  at  Bristol,  on  his  second 
appointment  to  that  city  in  1798,  Mr.  Clarke  applied  him- 
self to  learn  Persian.  He  had  now  such  an  insight  into  the 
laws  of  languages,  as  to  find  assistance,  rather  than  obstruc- 
tion, in  the  simultaneous  study  of  several  of  them.  In  one 
of  his  letters,  written  later  in  life  to  Mr.  Hugh  Stuart  Boyd, 
who  appears  to  have  expressed  a  doubt  as  to  the  advisable- 
ness  of  such  a  course,  he  says  :  "  I  think  it  strange  that  you 
are  of  opinion  that  we  cannot  carry  on  consentaneously  two 
or  three  languages  at  a  time.  If  I  could  not  do  so,  I  think 
I  should  be  tempted  to  run  out  into  the  street,  and  dash  the 
place  where  the  brains  should  be,  against  the  first  post  1 
met."  In  fact,  the  more  he  learned,  the  more  he  found  he 
could  learn.  To  him  who  had,  was  given.  In  Bristol  he 
had  become  acquainted  with  a  man  of  kindred  spirit,  and 
learned  how  true  it  is,  in  these  matters  as  well  as  in  others, 
that  "  as  iron  sharpeneth  iron,  so  doth  the  countenance  of  a 
man  his  friend."  The  gentleman  I  allude  to  was  the  late 
Mr.  Charles  Fox,  one  who  to  many  elegant  attainments 
added  a  passionate  love  for  Oriental,  and  especially  for  Per- 
sian poetry.  Mr.  Clarke  and  he  became  intimate,  and 
each  proved  a  help  to  the  other.  Clarke  obtained  a  good 
deal  of  aid  from  Fox  in  the  study  of  Persian ;  and  Fox,  by 


298  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

his  converse  and  correspondence  with  his  Methodist  friend, 
became  a  devout  believer,  and  exemplified  in  life  and  death 
the  blessedness  of  the  true  Christian. 

In  Persian,  Mr.  Clarke  commenced  with  the  version  of 
the  Gospels  in  that  language,  found  in  the  fifth  volume  of 
the  London  Polyglot ;  nor  could  he  at  that  time  have 
adopted  a  better  text-book,  as  the  subject  was  already 
familiar,  and  the  language  good  idiomatic  Persian.*  The 
version  itself  was  not  made  from  the  Greek  text,  but  from 
the  Syriac  Peschito,  the  very  words  of  which  are  sometimes 
retained  with  a  Persian  gloss  ;  but  the  body  of  the  work  is 
good  Persian.  Henry  Martyn  found  that  the  Persians  at 
Shiraz  liked  it  better  than  the  more  recent  translations. 
"  To  my  surprise,"  says  he,  "  the  old  despised  Polyglot 
version  was  not  only  spoken  of  as  superior  to  the  rest," 
(that  is,  the  two  by  Sabat,)  "  but  it  was  asked,  'What  fault 
is  found  in  this  ?  This  is  the  language  we  speak.' "  f 

The  Grammar  Mr.  Clarke  used  was  that  of  Sir  William 
Jones — no  doubt  the  best  in  existence.  Of  this  elaborate 
work  he  wrote  in  after  days  a  masterly  description  in  the 
Eclectic  Review,  which  may  be  seen,  also,  in  his  Miscellan- 
eous Works.  The  perusal  of  the  review  (as  well  as  of 
others,  in  the  same  volume,  on  WTilkins's  Persian  Dic- 
tionary, and  Gil  Christ's  Theory  of  the  Persian  Verbs)  will 

*  This  translation  was  made  in  the  fourteenth  century  by  a  Persian 
Jew  who  had  embraced  Christianity,  and  had  become  a  resident  at  Kalta, 
in  the  Crimea.  We  learn  as  much  from  the  epigraph  at  the  close  of  tho 
work:  "  The  four  glorious  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John, 
were  finished  in  the  city  of  Kaffa,  inhabited  by  Christians,  the  second 
prayers  being  done,  on  the  ninth  of  the  month  Tammuz,  which  in  Latin 
is  called  July,  in  the  year  1341  of  Christ  the  Messiah ;  by  the  hand  of 
the  most  weak  of  the  people  of  God,  Simon  ben  Josef  ibn  Abraham  Al- 
tabrizi.  The  God  of  the  pious  in  his  mercy  and  providence  be  so  gra- 
cious, that  those  who  read  or  hear  this  Gospel  may  say  a  Paternoster  and 
Ave  Maria  for  the  poor  writer,  that  he  also  by  the  Divine  mercy  may  be 
forgiven.  Amen.  It  was  moreover  written  by  the  command  and  coun- 
sel of  his  lord  and  king,  the  friend  and  brother  of  the  holy  Church,  tho 
prince  Ibn  Sahm  Addaula  ibn  Sirana,  surnamed  Teflizi ;  to  whom,  and  t(> 
whose  parents  may  God  be  propitious  !" 

t  Journals,  vol.  ii,  p.  808. 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        299 

reveal  abundant  evidence  that  in  the  progress  of  years  the 
writer  had  become  an  accomplished  critic  in  the  literature 
of  that  beautiful  tongue. 

It  will  not  be  supposed  that  a  man  of  Mr.  Clarke's  tastes 
and  impulses  would  remain  satisfied  without  the  knowledge 
of  Arabic ;  a  language  which,  for  the  purposes  he  had  at 
heart,  would  have  a  higher  claim  upon  his  regard  than  that 
of  the  Persians.  As  a  cognate  of  the  Hebrew,  it  takes  rank 
among  the  more  strictly  Biblical  tongues ;  and  some 
acquaintance  with  it  will  be  helpful  to  the  thorough  study 
of  the  original  text  of  the  Old  Testament.  Dr.  Clarke, 
however,  was  by  no  means  disposed  to  attach  that  exagger- 
ated importance  to  the  knowledge  of  Arabic,  in  this  respect, 
which  has  been  claimed  for  it  by  some  scholars.  He  gave 
it  as  his  deliberate  opinion,  after  much  experience,  that  "  a 
man  may  perfectly  understand  the  whole  phraseology  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible  who  knows  not  a  letter  of  the  Arabic  alpha- 
bet ;  and  though  we  readily  grant  that  a  knowledge  of  that 
language  may  be  of  considerable  service  in  supplying 
several  deficient  roots,  whose  derivatives  alone  remain  in 
the  Hebrew  Bible ;  yet,  as  to  the  general  understanding  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  we  assert  in  our  turn  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  Hellenistic  Greek,  and  especially  that  of  the  Septu- 
agint,  will  avail  more  toward  a  thorough  understanding  of 
the  sacred  text  than  all  the  Arabic  in  Hariri  or  the  Koran. 
Of  all  the  books  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  book  of  Job 
alone  is  that  to  which  Arabic  learning  may  be  most  suc- 
cessfully applied,  from  the  number  of  Arabisms  which  it 
contains  ;  yet  even  here  it  can  do  but  little,  as  is  evident 
from  the  excessive  labors  of  Schultens  and  Chapelow  on 
this  book,  both  eminent  Arabic  scholars  and  critics,  who, 
nevertheless,  in  the  judgment  of  those  best  qualified  to  form 
a  correct  opinion,  have  contributed  little  toward  the  eluci- 
dation of  the  difficulties  found  in  this  ancient  book."* 

He  entered,  however,  on  the  study  with  his  wonted 
energy,  and  followed  it  up  with  such  results  as  to  become 

*  Works,  vol.  x,  p.  266. 


300  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

one  of  the  most  respectable  Arabic  scholars  in  England. 
The  enthusiasim  he  felt  in  this  pursuit,  in  its  earlier  stages, 
discovers  itself  in  the  sacrifice  he  made  to  obtain  what  was 
then  deemed,  and  rightly,  the  best  lexicon  to  the  language, 
the  Thesaurus  of  Meninski.  He  had  written  to  his  book- 
seller to  look  out  for  a  copy  for  him,  and  learned  in  reply 
that "  one  copy  had  been  sold  the  day  before,  to  a  brother 
in  the  trade,  for  £30 ;  that  he  had  been  to  see  what  he 
would  let  it  go  for,  and  that  he  demanded  forty  guineas, 
saying  he  could  make  even  more  of  it,  but  that  he  would 
keep  it  forty-eight  hours  for  the  answer."  Mr.  Clarke  im- 
mediately wrote  to  a  friend  for  the  loan  of  the  money,  since 
"  without  the  Thesaurus  he  was  at  a  stand  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  his  studies;"  engaging  that  he  would  "faithfully 
repay  it  in  three  months."  His  friend,  however,  demurred 
to  the  greatness  of  the  sum  "  for  a  book,"  and,  instead  of 
the  forty  guineas,  sent  him  some  dry  advice  on  the  neces- 
sity of  learning  the  value  of  money,  and  of  confining  his 
wishes  and  wants  within  the  limits  of  his  circumstances. 
Nothing  daunted,  he  went  in  person  to  another  friend,  and 
said,  "  Mr.  Ewer,  I  want  to  borrow  of  you  £40  for  three 
months,  at  the  end  of  which  I  will  repay  you.  Will  you 
lend  me  that  sum  ?"  To  which  the  good  man  replied,  "Yes, 
Mr.  Clarke,  twenty  times  that"  sum  for  twenty  times  as 
long,  if  you  wish  it ;  you  may  have  it  to-day."  So  Menin- 
ski was  brought  home,  and  became  one  of  the  choice  com- 
panions of  his  life.* 

*The  high  price  of  this  work  may  be  explained,  not  only  from  its  in- 
trinsic excellence,  but  from  the  circumstances  of  its  history.  Francois 
Menin  was  a  native  of  Lormine,  in  1623;  and,  having  completed  his 
studies  at  Rome,  obtained  a  situation  in  the  Polish  embassy  ut  Constan- 
tinople, where  he  became  familiar  with  Turkish  as  interpreter  to  the 
embassy,  and  was  subsequently  appointed  embassador  himself.  In  this 
connection  with  the  Polish  court,  and  naturalized  as  a  Pole,  he  took  the 
national  termination  to  his  name,  and  was  henceforward  known  as  Me- 
ninski. In  his  thirty-eighth  year  he  entered  the  service  of  Austria  as 
an  interpreter  of  Oriental  languages  at  Vienna,  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem,  and  was  made  a  knight  of  that  order. 
When  fifty-seven,  he  published  the  great  work  which  had  been  the  labor 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        301 

In  Arabian  literature,  as  well  as  Persian,  Dr.  Clarke 
from  time  to  time  enriched  his  library  with  the  choicest 
authors,  both  printed  and  in  manuscript.  His  collection  of 
Oriental  manuscripts  became  at  length  truly  magnificent. 
In  the  course  of  his  earlier  studies  he  derived  great  advan- 
tage from  the  Bibliotheque  Orientak  of  D'Herbelot,  and 
cherished  a  strong  wish  to  publish  an  English  translation 
ofit.f 

Among  his  other  researches,  he  had  become  master 
of  enough  of  Ethiopic  and  Coptic  to  be  able  to  read  and 
pronounce  the  few  scanty  pieces  we  have  in  those  lan- 
guages. Connected  with  the  latter  was  a  little  incident 
which  deserves  to  be  set  down.  On  one  of  his  visits  to 


of  his  life — the  Thesaurus  Linguarum  Orientalium,  in  four  volumes. 
(Vienna,  1680.)  It  is  a  lexicon  of  the  Turkish,  Arabic,  and  Persian  lan- 
guages, and  partially  of  the  Tartar ;  the  definitions  and  explanations 
being  given  in  Latin,  German,  Italian,  French,  and  Polish.  A  new  edi- 
tion was  published  a  hundred  years  later  from  the  same  press,  with  the 
same  types,  but  on  inferior  paper.  Copies,  however,  of  both  these  edi- 
tions are  exceedingly  scarce,  from  the  destruction  of  most  of  those  of  the 
first,  by  fire,  owing  to  the  explosion  of  a  bomb  at  the  siege  of  Vienna  by 
the  Turks  ;  and  of  the  second,  from  an  accident  by  water.  Previously 
to  the  appearance  of  Richardson's  Persian,  Arabic,  and  English  Diction- 
ary, a  good  copy  has  sold  for  eighty,  and  sometimes  for  a  hundred  guin- 
eas. The  copies  are  generally  marked  by  the  fire,  and  stained  more 
or  less  by  the  water  used  to  quench  the  flames.  The  fourth  volume  of 
the  work  was  entirely  destroyed,  and  cost  the  author  seven  years  more 
of  labor  to  replace  it. 

t "  In  my  answer  to  Mr.  Phillips,  Paul's  Church- yard,  I  told  him  I  had 
projected  the  translation  of  a  work  of  the  greatest  consequence.  .  .  .Our 
extensive  conquests  in  the  East,  and  the  commercial  transactions  with 
that  great  world,  render  everything  relative  to  the  history  of  those  coun- 
tries, the  manners  of  the  ancient  and  modern  inhabitants,  their  arts  and 
sciences,  mythology,  eminent  men,  etc.,  not  only  interesting  to  men  of 
letters,  but  also  to  men  of  business. 

"  It  is  strange  that  such  a  work  should  have  been  upward  of  a  hnn- 
dred  years  published  abroad,  and  yet  never  translated  into  English.  I 
refer  to  the  Bib.  Orient,  of  D'Herbelot,  with  the  supplement  of  Visdelou 
and  Galand.  This  book  cannot  be  translated  by  any  man  who  has  not 
a  knowledge  of  the  Arabic  tongue,  etc.  I  could  add  a  thousand  things 
to  it,  to  make  it  what  it  should  be.  .  .  .  You  know  I  have  perseverance 
capable  of  running  even  a  four  years'  heat  on  one  course  ;  and  I  could 
scarcely  hope  to  do  this  in  less." — Letter. 


302  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

London,  in  1803,  he  met  one  day  with  the  secretary  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Antiquarians,  Dr.  Brandt,  who  invited 
him  to  go  with  him  to  the  Society's  Hall  at  Somerset 
House,  to  give  an  opinion  upon  a  stone  recently  arrived 
from  Egypt,  with  an  inscription  which  had  hitherto  baffled 
all  attempts  to  decipher  it.  The  stone  had  been  dug  up  by 
the  French  troops  when  at  work  in  the  trenches  at  Raschid, 
or  Rosetta,  in  Lower  Egypt.  In  the  reverses  of  the  war 
it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Sir  Sydney  Smith,  and,  greatly  to 
the  mortification  of  the  savans,  had  been  transmitted  to 
England,  and  intrusted  to  the  care  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Antiquarians.  The  block,  somewhat  mutilated,  bore  a 
triple  inscription ;  one  in  Greek,  a  second  in  hieroglyphics, 
and  the  third  in  forms  which  had  defied  all  the  learning  of 
London  to  unravel.  I  will  now  let  Mr.  Clarke  tell  his  own 
story,  in  writing  home : 

"  I  have  been  very  little  out  since  I  came  here ;  but, 
through  Mr.  Baynes,  I  have  had  an  interview  with  the  sec- 
retary of  the  Royal  Society  of  Antiquarians,  who  informed 
me  that  they  had  received  from  Egypt  a  curious  stone  with 
a  threefold  inscription ;  one,  hieroglyphics ;  the  other, 
Greek  ;  and  the  third,  utterly  unknown.  He  offered  to  take 
me,  and  show  it.  '  All  of  the  literati,'  said  he,  'have  been ; 
several  members  of  the  Asiatic  Society,  the  famous  Sanskrit 
scholar,  Charles  Wilkins,  etc.;  and  not  one  of  them  can 
find  out  the  matter  of  the  stone,  nor  the  third  inscription. 
Sir,  it  pours  contempt  upon  all  modern  learning,  and  is  a 
language  that  is  utterly  lost.  As  the  Greek  inscription 
shows  that  it  relates  to  the  deification  of  one  of  the  Ptole- 
mies, it  is  evidently  several  hundred  years  older  than  the 
Christian  era.  However,  if  you  choose,  sir,  you  shall  have 
the  privilege  of  seeing  it.'  He  seemed  to  treat  me  with 
such  a  more  than  quantum  sufficil  of  hauteur,  that  I  really 
did  not  wish  to  lay  myself  under  so  much  obligation.  He 
then  said  :  '  If  you  are  conversant  in  Greek,  I  can  repeat  part 
of  the  last  lines  of  the  inscription  to  you.'  I  bowed  and 
nothing.  He  then  began,  and  interpreted  as  he  went. 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        303 

A.mong  many  things  he  said  :  '  The  stone  is  so  hard  that 
no  instrument  we  have  can  cut  it ;  and  the  inscription  itself 
points  this  out,  for  the  decree  is  that  it  should  be  cut  on  a 
hard  stone.'  A.  C.  'Sir,  I  do  not  think,  whatever  quality 
the  stone  may  be  of,  that  arepeov  here  signifies  hard.  Its 
ideal  and  proper  meaning  is  firm ;  and  it  probably 
refers  to  the  local  establishment  of  the  stone.'  He 
was  not  willing  to  give  up  his  own  opinion,  and  the 
interview  ended. 

"  On  Saturday  morning  I  called  upon  Mr.  Baynes,  and 
found  the  Doctor  had  been  there  again  inquiring  for  me,  and 
wishing  me  to  meet  him  there  at  noon,  and  he  would  take 
me  to  Somerset  House.  .  .  .  The  Doctor  came  at  the 
appointed  time,  and  behaved  with  less  stiffness.  We  en- 
tered the  coach.  The  conversation  was  chiefly  about  the 
stone  and  its  indescribable  inscription,  with  the  contempt  it 
poured,  and  so  forth.  He  talked  about  Persian,  and  assured 
me  we  had  derived  many  English  words  from  it,  and  men- 
tioned some.  I  mentioned  others.  I  soon  had  the  ground 
to  myself.  Arrived  at  Somerset  House,  I  was  led  to  the 
apartment. 

'•'•Doctor.  Here  is  the  curious  and  ancient  stone  which 
Sir  Sydney  took  from  General  Menou,  which  he  valued  so 
much,  that  the  French  Government  endeavored  to  make  the 
restoration  of  it  a  part  of  the  treaty. 

"  I  had  only  begun  to  look  at  the  stone,  when  the  mem- 
ber who  is  employed  in  making  out  the  Greek  inscription, 
came  in,  I  suppose  by  appointment.  I  viewed  it  silently 
for  some  time. 

"  Doctor.  Well,  sir,  what  do  you  think  of  it  1 

"  A.  C.  Why,  sir,  it  is  certainly  very  curious. 

"  Dr.  What  do  you  think  the  stone  is  1  Some  suppose 
it  to  be  porphyry,  others  granite ;  but  none  are  agreed. 

"  A.  C.  Why,  sir,  it  is  neither  porphyry  nor  granite ;  it 
is  basaltes. 

"Dr.  Basaltes,  think  you? 

"  A.  C.  Yes,  sir ;  I  am  certain  it  is  nothing  but  basaltes, 


304  LIFE    OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

interspersed  with  mica  and  quartz.  I  pledge  myself  it  will 
strike  fire  with  flint." 

"This  produced  some  conversation,  in  which  the  other  gen- 
tleman took  a  part ;  at  last  my  opinion  became  current.  I 
then  measured  the  stone,  and  the  Doctor  took  down  the 
dimensions.  Then  the  unknown  inscription  came  into 
review. 

"A.  C.  This  inscription  is  Coptic,*  and  differs  only  from 
the  printed  Coptic  in  Wilkins's  Testament,  as  printed  Per- 
sian does  from  manuscript. 

"  Thus  was  delivered  into  their  hands  a  key  by  which  the 
whole  may  be  made  out." 

From  the  treasures  of  Sanskrit  and  Hindoo  literature, 
the  Vedas,  Shastras,  Puranas,  and  other  symbolic  books  of 
the  old  Indian  religion,  Dr.  Clarke  enriched  his  common- 
place books  with  a  great  variety  of  remarkable  extracts ;  and 
especially  from  the  Zend-Avesta,  and  Bagkavat-geeta,  which 
were  afterward  used  with  advantage  in  his  commentaries  on 
the  Scriptures.j-  He  made  no  pretensions  to  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  original  languages  of  those  books,  but  availed 
himself  of  the  translations  of  them  which  had  been  so  far 
accomplished  at  that  time  by  M.  Anquetil  du  Perron,  Sir 
William  Jones,  Dr.  Charles  Wilkins,  and  various  writers 
in  the  "Asiatic  Researches,"  though  I  ought  to  observe,  that 
subsequently  (that  is  to  say,  in  1812,  as  I  find  by  a  memo- 
randum of  his  own)  he  entered  for  himself  on  the  study  of 
Sanskrit;  and  I  believe  found  no  small  help  in  pursuing  it 
from  the  two  Indian  priests  who,  as  we  shall  see,  were 
shortly  after  domiciled  a  considerable  time  in  his  family. 
But  so  far  back  as  1798  he  was  eagerly  employed  with  the 
translated  works.  "  I  have  read  over  the  Ayeen  Akbery, 
and  marked  a  number  of  curious  things.  I  never  met  with 

*  More  correctly,  Egyptian  in  the  enchorial  character.  They  might  have 
Been  that  such  was  the  case  from  the  words  of  the  Greek  inscription : 
"  Tlii*  document  shall  be  engraved  on  a  hard  stone  in  Sacred,  Enchorial, 
and  Greek  letters," — lepotf  xai  'EFXQPIOI2  xal  'EhhrjviKolf  -ypup/jiaaiv. 

t  A«,  for  example,  on  Matt,  xxv.,  and  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John. 


THE  STUDENT  AND  SCHOLAR.        3Vo 

a  better  spirit  than  that  of  the  author.  It  is  a  work  of  great 
labor  and  importance,  and  has  more  matter  in  it  than  four- 
score volumes.  Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  inquire  whether 
Mr.  Wilkins,  who  translated  the  Baghavat-geeta,  has  finished 
the  remainder  ?  If  this  has  been  published,  get  it  for  me  at 
any  price.  I  have  made  large  gleanings  from  the  Baghavat- 
geeta  ;  and  I  think  the  rest  would  afford  me  a  copious  harv- 
est  Do  not  lose  a  moment  about  it.  When  I  come 

to  John's  Gospel  and  Epistles  I  shall  need  to  consult  all 
the  Oriental  writings  I  can  procure.  It  is  from  them  alone 
that  his  peculiar  phrases  can  be  interpreted.  [Query.]  Keep 
your  eye  about  you.  May  be  God  may  throw  in  our  way 
an  Ayeen  Akbery,  etc.  I  have  at  considerable  expense  pur- 
chased the  Zend-Avesta,  attributed  to  Zoroaster,  published 
by  M.  A.  Du  Perron." 

And  again,  in  1799 :  "  I  thank  you  heartily.  Before  I 
knew  anything  of  your  design,  I  purposed  to  write  to  you 
concerning  the  Hedaiyah;*  but  I  almost  despaired  of  getting 
it,  because  I  thought,  like  the  Ayeen  Akbery,  it  was  one  of 
those  phoenix  books  which  are  rarely  to  be  seen.  WThile 
purposing  to  write,  I  was  agreeably  surprised  by  the  receipt 
of  it.  In  the  customs  and  manners  alluded  to  in  the  Scrip- 
lures,  all  these  books  will  be  uncommonly  useful.  In  this 
respect  the  Ayeen  Akbery,  Baghavat-geeta,  Institutes  of 
Menu,  and  the  Hedaiyah  are  invaluable.  I  have  read  the 
three  former,  and  have  marked  every  place  that  suits  my 
purpose.  The  Hedaiyah  I  am  now  beginning." 

Once  more,  1799 :  "  Last  week  a  bookseller  came  to  me 
from  Bath,  with  a  lot  of  MSS.  One  is  a  large  thick  octavo, 
a  Hindoo  and  Persian  Dictionary ;  another,  a  small  octavo, 
is  a  compilation  from  the  Mahabh&rata,  containing  about 
six  hundred  pages ;  another  is  a  very  thick  folio,  containing 
about  fifteen  or  sixteen  hundred  pages,  and  is  either  the 
whole  or  a  very  large  part  of  the  Mah&bh&rata  translated 
from  the  Sanskrit  into  Persian.  The  Mahabh&rata  contains 

*  Hamilton's  translation  of  the  Hedaiyah.  or  Oommrntary  on  the  Laws 
of  Islam.     Four  voluiws. 


306  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  couplets  in  the  original,  and 
is  the  most  invaluable  work  in  the  East.  From  it  the  Geeta 
was  translated  by  Mr.  Wilkins ;  a  work  next  in  dignity  and 
importance  to  the  Bible.  [?]  He  left  them  with  me  to  look 
at  them,  and  marked  the  three  for  nine  guineas,  but  has 
since  sent  me  word  that  he  must  have  four  more.  Mr. 
Stock,  who  saw  the  MSS.  the  evening  they  came,  begged  to 
purchase  the  great  folio  for  his  friend,  A.  C.  Now,  do  you 
think  I  should  give  the  £4  4s.  more  than  he  asked  me  ?  Mr. 
Fox  will  be  glad  to  have  the  other  two.  If  I  send  them 
back,  I  shall  lose  the  Mah&bh&rata ;  and  this  I  should  not 
like,  as  it  comes  to  me  in  a  providential  way." 

But,  while  making  those  wide  excursions  into  the  regions 
of  foreign  philology,  Dr.  Clarke  was  not  unmindful  of  the 
claims  of  his  own  mother  tongue.  A  fervent  admirer  of  the 
English  language,  he  made  himself  master  of  its  vast  capa- 
bilities by  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  its  structure,  and 
with  the  sources  of  those  various  elements  of  which  it  is 
composed.  He  had  carefully  read  the  homely  fathers  of 
our  English  theology  and  history  in  their  own  Anglo-Saxon ; 
and  this,  together  with  his  knowledge  of  the  Semitic  and 
Indo-European  tongues,  (especially  Persian  and  Sanskrit,) 
as  well  as  the  earlier  Continental  dialects,  enabled  him  to 
arrive  at  the  true  origines  of  the"  English  speech,  and  to  ex- 
plain its  peculiar  phenomena.  Among  his  Anglo-Saxon 
treasures,  he  set  particular  value  on  a  manuscript  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible,  of  which  he  has  availed  himself  with  ad- 
vantage in  many  parts  of  the  Commentary. 


THE  STUDENT.  307 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   STUDENT CONTINUED. 

WITH  a  mind  devoutly  intent  on  attaining  the  knowledge 
of  the  good,  Mr.  Clarke  sought  it  out,  not  only  in  the  fading 
pages  of  human  literature,  but  in  the  enduring  registries 
traced  by  the  Creator  himself  on  the  immeasurable  uni- 
verse. For  science,  truly  so  called,  he  cherished  an  instinct- 
ive and  ever-growing  love.  He  believed  with  St.  Paul  that 
"  the  invisible  things  of  God  from  the  creation  of  the  world 
are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that  are 
made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  divinity :"  their  immense- 
ness  showing  his  omnipotence;  their  vast  variety  and  fit- 
nesses, his  omniscience  and  love;  and  their  preservation, 
the  reign  of  his  everlasting  providence.  So  that,  as  he  ex- 
presses it  in  his  notes  on  the  first  chapter  to  the  Romans, 
"Creation  and  Providence  form  a  two-fold  demonstration 
of  God."  In  those,  too,  on  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  he  enters  more  largely  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  condenses  the  rich  results  of  broad  and  deep  in- 
vestigation. 

From  a  child  he  had  been  moved  by  that  "  desire  "  which 
the  inspired  moralist  speaks  of,  as  impelling  one  who  feels 
it  to  "  separate  himself,"  that  he  may  "  intermeddle  with  all 
knowledge."  "  I  was  always,"  said  he,  "  a  curious  lad,  and 
extremely  inquisitive.  If  a  stone  was  thrown  up  into  the 
air,  I  wished  to  know  why  it  came  down  with  a  greater 
force  than  it  ascended ;  why  some  bodies  were  hard,  and 
others  soft ;  and  what  it  was  that  united  various  bodies.  I 
was  intent  in  gazing  at  the  stars,  and  in  singling  out  one  from 
another.  I  obtained  the  loan  of  an  old  spy -glass ;  and  with 
it,  often  without  hat,  and  bare-legged,  I  sallied  out  on  a  clear 


308  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

frosty  night  to  make  observations  on  the  moon  and  stars. 
Since  that  period  I  have  been  constantly  learning,  and  still 
know  but  little  either  of  heaven  or  earth." 

In  those  boyish  days,  in  common  with  many  who  have  to 
do  with  rural  work,  the  atmosphere  claimed  a  good  deal  of 
his  attention,  and,  from  incessant  observation,  he  became  a 
practical  meteorologist.  In  a  paper  in  the  "  Wesleyan 
Magazine,"  for  1824,  entitled  "  A  Fair  and  Foul  Weather 
Prognosticator,"  he  takes  occasion  to  revert  to  those  juve- 
nile lessons  received  in  the  school  of  nature :  "  I  do  not  re- 
member the  time  in  which  I  was  unconcerned  about  the 
changes  of  the  weather.  From  my  childhood  I  was  bred  up 
on  a  little  farm,  which  I  was  taught  to  care  for  ever  since  I 
was  able  to  spring  the  rattle,  use  the  whip,  manage  the 
sickle,  or  handle  the  spade;  and,  as  I  found  that  much  of 
success  depended  on  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  weather,  I 
was  led  to  study  it  from  eight  years  of  age.  Meteorology  is 
a  natural  science,  and  one  of  the  first  to  be  studied.  Every 
child  in  the  country  makes,  untaught,  some  progress  in  it. 
I  had  learned  by  silent  observation  to  form  good  conject- 
ures about  the  coming  weather,  and  on  this  head  to  teach 
wisdom  among  them  that  were  perfect,  but  who  had  not 
been  obliged,  like  me,  to  watch  earnestly  that  what  was  so 
necessary  to  the  family  support  should  not  be  spoiled  by 
the  weather  before  it  was  housed.  Many  a  time,  even  in 
tender  youth,  have  I  watched  the  heavens  with  anxiety,  ex- 
amined the  different  appearances  of  the  morning  and  even- 
ing sun,  the  phases  of  the  moon,  the  scintillation  of  the 
stars,  the  course  and  color  of  the  clouds,  the  flight  of  the 
crow  and  the  swallow,  the  gambols  of  the  colt,  the  fluttering 
of  the  ducks,  and  the  loud  screams  of  the  sea-mews ;  not 
forgetting  even  the  hue  and  croaking  of  the  frog.  From  the 
little  knowledge  derived  from  close  observation,  I  often 
ventured  to  direct  our  agricultural  operations  in  reference 
to  the  coming  days,  and  was  seldom  much  mistaken  in  the 
reckoning." 

This  weather-wise  philosopher  of  the  fields,  who  is  so 


THE  STUDENT.  309 

restless  to  know  the  great  secret  of  nature  that  he  must 
needs  sally  forth  bare-headed,  with  naked  feet,  into  the  silent 
night,  to  send  his  questions  to  the  moon  and  stars,  grew  up 
into  adolescence  in  the  same  mind,  and  may  next  be  seen 
bending  a  face  which  religion  had  now  lit  with  a  solemn  in- 
telligence over  the  pages  of  Derham  and  Ray.  "As  he  was 
told  by  the  highest  authority  that  '  the  heavens  declare  the 
glory  of  God,'  and  as  mere  inspection  filled  him  with  won- 
der without  giving  him  the  information  he  wanted,  he  wish- 
ed to  gain  some  acquaintance  with  astronomy.  .  .  .  About 
this  time  a  friend  lent  him  that  incomparable  work  of  Dr. 
Derham,  the  '  Astro  -Theology,'  which  he  read  in  union  with 
the  Bible  at  all  spare  times  of  day  and  night.  Ray's  '  Wis- 
dom of  God  in  the  Creation '  gave  him  still  more  knowl- 
edge, and  directed  him  to  the  study  of  natural  philosophy. 
All  these  things  were  the  means  of  establishing  his  soul  in 
the  thorough  belief  of  the  truth  ;  so  that  his  faith  stood  not 
in  the  wisdom  of  man,  but  in  the  power  of  God."* 

In  his  novitiate  in  the  ministry,  he  read  whatever  he 
could  get,  in  the  department  of  natural  science,  with  a  never- 
flagging  relish.  Down  in  Cornwall,  in  addition  to  some 
chemical  works,  he  had  the  use  of  a  medical  gentleman's 
laboratory  ;  and  at  Plymouth  he  obtained  from  a  naval 
friend  a  copy  of  Chambers's  Encyclopaedia,  with  which,  "  a 
library  in  itself,"  he  spent  almost  every  spare  half-hour. 
Here  his  philosophical  taste  was  gratified,  and  knowledge 
gained  apace.  Of  Chambers  he  never  spoke  without  com- 
mendation. 

But  these  were  only  beginnings  of  wisdom,  first  steps  in 
a  pathway  which  became  more  sunlit  as  he  advanced,  led  up 
from  nature  to  nature's  God.  In  the  Channel  Islands  he 
read  many  scientific  books  ;  and  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
had  the  opportunity  of  attending  the  courses  on  chemistry 
and  anatomy.  At  the  Surrey  Institution  he  found  im- 
mense delight  as  well  as  profit  in  the  lectures  and  experi- 
ments of  the  professors,  who  were  among  the  most  able 
*  Autobiography. 


310  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

men  of  the  day ;  and  with  what  fruit  those  advantages  were 
improved  appears  in  his  enriched  edition  of  Sturm's  "  Re- 
flections on  the  Works  of  God,"  and  the  innumerable  illus- 
trations of  the  nature-science  of  the  Bible  in  his  expository 
writings.  Among  his  own  collections  in  natural  history 
there  was  one  of  minerals,  which  has  been  seldom  excelled 
by  private  persons,  including  not  only  the  metallic  produc- 
tions, but  also  some  very  choice  specimens  of  the  precious 
stones. 

We  have  before  intimated  that  Dr.  Clarke  had  always  a 
yearning  for  the  recondite  in  nature ;  a  disposition  which 
led  him  to  diverge  sometimes  from  the  orthodox  chemical 
science  of  modern  times  into  the  now  almost  forgotten  by- 
paths of  the  old  alchemists.  We  have  seen  how,  when  a 
mere  boy,  he  tried  to  master  the  "  Occult  Philosophy  "  of 
Cornelius  Agrippa.  In  his  earlier  itinerant  years  he  tells  us 
that  "  he  read  several  alchemistic  authors,  the  perusal  of 
which  was  recommended  to  him  by  a  friend*  who  was 
much  devoted  to  such  studies ;  and  he  also  went  through 
several  of  the  initiatory  operations  recommended  by  pro- 
fessed adepts  in  that  science.  This  study  was  the  means 
of  greatly  enlarging  his  views  on  the  operations  of  nature, 
as  he  saw  many  wonders  performed  by  chemical  agency." 
It  may  surprise  the  reader  that  he  took  pains  to  wade 
through  Basil  Valentine,  George  Ripley,  Philalethes,  Nicho- 
las Flammel,  Artephius,  Geber,  Paracelsus,  the  Hermetical 
Triumph,  all  the  writers  in  Ashmole's  Theatrum  Chemicum 
Britannicum,  etc.,  not  with  the  hope  of  finding  the  philoso- 
pher's stone,  but  rerum  coynoscere  causas,  to  see  nature  in 
her  own  laboratory. 

Among  the  few  men  who  have  followed  such  pursuits  in 
modern  times,  Mr.  Clarke  became  acquainted  with  one  in 
Dublin,  of  whom  he  has  left  some  memoranda  too  curious 
not  to  be  transcribed.  One  Sabbath  morning,  preaching  in 
Whitefriars'-street  chapel  on  Isaiah  i,  25,  26:  "And  I  will 
turn  my  hand  upon  thee,  and  purely  purge  away  thy  dross, 
*  Dr.  Twcntyman,  the  physician  of  Port  Isaac,  Cornwall. 


THE  STUDENT.  311 

and  take  away  all  thy  tin,"  etc.,  he  mentioned,  by  way  of 
explaining  the  metaphor,  the  method  by  which  the  dross  is 
separated  from  the  silver  in  the  process  of  refining,  and 
made  some  observations  on  the  nature  and  properties  of 
metals,  tending  to  throw  light  on  the  subject  he  was  discuss- 
ing. A  gentleman,  eminent  as  a  man  of  science,  was  pres- 
ent on  that  occasion,  whose  name  was  Hand,  who  had  for 
some  time  been  a  resolute  and  unwearied  experimcntist  in 
the  problems  of  alchemy — in  fact,  a  serious  expectant  of 
finding  the  grand  secret  itself.  .  The  sermon  arrested  his  at- 
tention, and  from  the  turn  of  phraseology  employed  by  the 
preacher,  he  was  sure  that  in  Mr.  Clarke  he  could  know  a 
man  like-minded  with  himself,  and  one  who  had  traveled  on 
the  same  track  as  that  which,  he  believed,  might  conduct 
them  both  to  wealth  and  immortality.  He  sought  an  intro- 
duction ;  and  if,  on  becoming  acquainted  with  the  learned 
preacher,  he  did  not  find  a  devotee  to  the  mysterious  art  as 
thorough  as  himself,  he  nevertheless  found  one  who,  as  an 
inquirer  into  the  arcana  of  nature,  was  glad  to  spend  an 
hour  occasionally  with  him  in  his  laboratory.  The  memor- 
andums to  which  I  have  referred  are  two  letters  from  this 
gentleman  to  Mr.  Clarke,  after  the  latter  had  removed  from 
Dublin  to  Manchester.  In  the  first  he  makes  the  following 
remarkable  recital : 

"  The  second  of  November  last,  came  to  my  house  two 
men ;  one  I  thought  to  be  a  priest,  and  yet  believe  so  ;  the 
other  a  plain,  sedate-looking  man.  They  asked  for  me. 
As  soon  as  I  went  to  them,  the  laskmentioned  person  said 
he  had  '  called  to  see  some  of  my  stained  glass,  and  hoped, 
as  he  was  curious,  I  would  permit  him  to  call  and  see  me 
now  and  then.'  Of  course  I  said  I  should  be  happy.  After 
much  conversation  he  began  to  speak  of  metals  and  alchemy, 
asking  me  if  I  had  ever  read  any  books  of  that  kind  (but  I 
believe  he  well  knew  I  had).  After  some  compliments  on 
my  ingenious  art,  they  went  away.  At  twelve  o'clock  the 
next  day  he  came  himself,  without  the  priest,  and  told  me 
he  had  a  little  matter  that  would  stain  glass  the  very  color 


312  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

I  wanted,  and  which  I  could  never  get ;  that  is,  a  deep  blood- 
red.  Said  he,  '  If  you  have  a  furnace  hot,  we  will  do  it ;  for 
the  common  fire  will  not  do  well.'  I  replied :  '  Sir,  I  have 
not  one  hot;  but,  if  you  will  please  to  come  with  me,  I  will 
show  you  my  little  laboratory,  and  will  get  one  lighted/ 
When  we  came  out  he  looked  about  him  and  said,  '  Sir,  do 
not  deceive  me,  you  are  an  alchemist.'  '  Why  do  you  think 
that,  sir  V  '  Because  you  have  as  many  foolish  vessels  as  1 
have  seen  with  many  others  engaged  in  that  study.'  '1 
have,'  I  answered,  '  worked  a  long  time  at  it  without  gain, 
and  should  be  glad  to  be  better  instructed.'  '  Do  you  be- 
lieve the  art?"  'Yes,  sir.'  'Why1?'  'Because  I  give 
credit  to  many  good  and  pious  men.'  He  smiled.  '  Will 
you  have  this  air-furnace  lighted?'  I  did  so.  He  then 
asked  for  a  bit  of  glass,  opened  a  box,  and  turned  aside, 
laid  a  little  red  powder  on  the  glass  with  a  penknife,  put 
the  glass  with  the  powder  on  it  into  the  fire,  and  when  hot 
took  it  out,  and  the  glass  was  like  blood  1  '  Have  you 
scales  V  I  got  them  for  him,  and  some  lead ;  he  weighed 
two  ounces ;  he  then  put  four  grains  of  a  very  white  pow- 
der in  a  bit  of  wax,  and,  when  the  lead  was  melted,  put  this 
into  it,  and  then  raised  the  fire  for  a  little  while,  took  it  outy 
and  cast  it  into  water ;  never  was  finer  silver  in  the  world  ! 
I  exclaimed,  [uttering  also  the  «acred  name,]  '  Sir  you 
amaze  me.'  '  Why,'  he  replied,  '  do  you  call  upon  God  ? 
Do  you  think  he  has  any  hand  in  these  things?'  'In  all 
good  things,  sir,'  I  said.  '  Ah,  friend,  God  will  never  reveal 
those  things  to  man.  Did  you  ever  learn  any  magic?' 

'  No,  sir.'     '  Get  you  then ;  he  will  instruct  you.     But 

1  will  lend  you  a  book,  and  will  get  you  acquainted  with  a 
friend  that  will  help  you  to  knowledge.  Did  you  ever  seo 
the  devil  ?'  '  No,  sir ;  and  trust  I  never  shall.'  '  Would 
you  be  afraid  ?'  '  Yes.'  '  Then  you  need  not ;  he  harms 
no  one ;  he  is  every  ingenious  man's  friend.  Shall  I  show 
you  something  ?'  '  Not  if  it  is  anything  of  that  kind.'  '  It 
is  not,  sir.  Please  to  get  me  a  glass  of  clean  water.'  I  did 
so.  He  pulled  out  a  bottle,  and  dropped  a  red  liquor  into 


THE  STUDENT.  313 

it,  and  said  something  1  did  not  understand.  The  water 
was  all  in  a  blaze  of  fire,  and  a  multitude  of  little  live  things 
like  lizards  moving  about  in  it.  I  was  in  great  fear.  This 
he  perceived,  took  the  glass,  and  flung  it  into  the  ashes,  and 
all  was  over.  '  Now,  sir,'  said  he,  '  if  you  will  enter  into 
a  vow  with  me,  as  I  see  you  are  an  ingenious  man,  I  will 
let  you  know  more  than  you  will  ever  find  out.'  This  I  de- 
clined, being  fully  convinced  it  was  of  the  devil ;  and  it  is 
now  I  know  the  meaning  of  '  coming  improperly  by  the 
secret.'  After  some  little  time  he  said  he  must  go,  and 
would  call  again,  when  I  should  think  better  of  his  offer. 
He  left  me  the  two  ounces  of  Zwna." 

From  the  second  letter :  "  I  have  not  seen  the  individual. 
[  have  used  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  the  silver  in  my  own 
work,  and  have  sold  the  remainder  for  pure  silver.  The 
metal  was  in  fusion;  and  when  the  powder  was  put  in, 
which  was  in  size  not  larger  than  the  head  of  a  lady's  hat- 
pin, the  lead  in  a  moment  became  like  some  dried  powder 
or  calx ;  the  fire  was  then  raised  to  melt  it  again,  which  was 
of  a  heat  to  melt  any  silver.  In  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
he  said :  '  It  is  in  perfect  flux.'  He  took  it  out,  and  cast  it 
into  the  water,  and  you  never  saw  finer  silver  in  your  life. 
I  have  heard  too  much  of  the  tricks  of  alchemists,  and  was 
too  attentive  to  all  that  passed,  for  any  man  or  devil  to  de- 
ceive me  in  this.  [?] 

"  When  I  mentioned  the  name  of  God,  he  smiled  with  a 
kind  of  contempt.  The  glass  of  water  was  a  common  tum- 
bler, and  he  said  something  as  he  was  putting  it  in,  and 
looked  very  sternly  at  me.  The  blaze  did  not  take  place 
the  moment  he  put  the  red  liquid  in,  but  little  flashes  in  the 
water,  and  a  strong  smell  of  sulphur,  so  much  so,  that  I 
thought  some  had  fallen  into  the  furnace ;  but  that  was  not 
the  case.  The  glass  soon  became  all  on  fire,  like  spirits  of 
wine  burning ;  and  a  number  of  little  creatures  became  visi- 
ble, exactly  like  lizards.  Some  of  them  moved  their  heads 
almost  to  the  top  of  the  glass,  and  I  saw  them  as  distinctly 
as  I  ever  saw  anything.  He  observed  me  tremble ;  and  I 


314  LIFE   OF   ADAM    CLARKE. 

exclaimed,  '  Christ  save  me !'  On  his  flinging  the  water 
with  the  lizards  under  the  grate,  I  looked  to  see  if  I  could 
observe  them  there.  He  said,  '  They  are  gone.'  '  Where  V 
'From  whence  they  came.'  'Where  is  that?'  'O,  you 
must  not  know  all  things  at  once.'  'Why,  sir,  I  believe 
this  is  magic.  You  could,  I  have  no  doubt,  raise  the  devil, 
if  you  liked.'  '  Would  you  be  afraid  f  '  Yes  sir ;  I  hope 
to  be  saved  from  having  anything  to  do  with  him.'  He  re- 
plied, '  You  are  a  very  ingenious  man,  Mr.  Hand ;  and  I 
wish  you  to  be  better  acquainted  with  nature,  and  the  things 
in  this  curious  world,  through  which  I  have  almost  been,  and 
have  more  knowledge  than  most  I  have  met  with ;  and  yet 
I  know  many  wonderful  men.'  '  Do  you  know  any  person, 
sir,  who  has  the  red  stone  ?'  '  I  do ;  multitudes.'  '  I  wish 
I  knew  some.'  '  You  shall,  and  the  whole  secret.'  '  Sir, 
you  are  very  good.'  '  But  you  must  know  that  we  are  all 
linked,  like  a  chain ;  and  you  must  go  under  a  particular 
ceremony,  and  a  vow.'  '  I  will  vow  to  God,  sir,'  I  replied, 
'  that  I  will  never  divulge.'  Here  he  stopped  me,  and  said, 
I  was  '  going  beyond  the  question,'  and  appeared  vexed. 
He  said  the  vow  must  be  made  before  another,  and  [added] 
with  an  angry  tone,  '  It  is  no  matter  to  you  whether  it  be 
before  God  or  the  devil,  if  you  get  the  art.' 

"Then,  indeed,  my  dear  friend,  I  saw  almost  into  his  in- 
most soul.  I  grew  all  on  fire,  and  said, '  I  will  never  receive 
anything,  not  even  the  riches  of  the  world,  but  from  God 
alone.'  '  O  sir,  he  replied, '  you  seem  to  be  angry  with  me ; 
my  intention  was  to  serve  you.  You  are  not  acquainted 
with  me,  or  you  would  rather  embrace  than  offend  me.' 

"  Much  more  conversation  passed.  He  spoke  of , 

and  many  other  such  books,  and  said  he  would  lend  me  one. 
After  some  time  he  added,  he  would  leave  me  to  reflect  on 
the  subject,  and  he  would  call  again.  He  had  told  me  that  there 
was  but  one  way  on  earth  of  knowing  the  transmutation  of 
metals ;  and  of  that,  he  said,  I  knew  nothing. 

"You  did  not  tell  me  if  Mr. is  still  in  Manchester. 

I  wonder  he  would  not  acknowledge  to  you  that  he  had  the 


THE  STUDENT.  315 

art,  and  how.  If  he  is  still  in  Manchester,  tell  him  of  a  dis- 
tressed brother,  and  perhaps  he  will  give  me  light." 

From  the  third  letter :  "  Since  I  wrote  to  you  last  I  have 
seen  the  man.  I  said,  '  How  do  you  do,  sir  ?'  He  replied, 
'  Sir,  I  have  not  the  honor  of  knowing  you.'  '  Do  you  not 
remember,'  said  I,  '  the  person  who  stains  glass,  and  to 
whom  you  were  so  kind  as  to  show  some  experiments  ?' 
'  No,  sir ;  you  are  mistaken,'  and  he  turned  red  in  the  face. 
'  Sir,'  I  answered,  '  if  I  am  mistaken,  I  beg  your  pardon  for 
telling  you  that  I  was  never  right  in  anything  in  my  life,  and 
never  shall  be.'  '  Sir,  you  are  mistaken,  and  I  wish  you 
good  morning.'  He  several  times  turned  round  to  look 
after  me ;  but,  be  assured,  I  never  saw  a  man  if  that  one 
was  not  the  one  who  was  with  me.  I  intend  to  inquire  and 
find  him,  or  who  he  is ;  of  this  I  am  determined. 

"  I  am  at  work  again,  and  building  a  digesting-furnace, 
exactly  after  Philalethes,  with  a  tower  to  contain  charcoal 
sufficient  to  last  twenty-four  hours.  I  will  have  it  to  give 
any  degree  of  heat  I  please.  So,  you  see,  I  cannot  have 
done ;  nor  will  I,  while  I  have  even  a  little  to  enable  me  to 
proceed.  I  spend  nothing  in  any  other  amusement,  so  that 
I  may  do  something  at  this ;  that,  if  God  pleases,  I  may 
have  a  little  to  spare  to  do  good  with." 

Mr.  Clarke,  in  his  correspondence  with  this  honest  enthu- 
siast, did  not  forget  to  urge  upon  him  the  necessity  of  ob- 
taining the  true  riches,  "  than  gold  and  pearls  more  precious 
far,"  and  of  seeking  that  wondrous  transmutation  of  mind 
and  heart  which  no  power  can  effect  but  the  grace  of  the 
Eternal  Spirit.  He  warned  him  against  the  inordinate  de- 
sire of  wealth ;  and  exhorted  him,  in  a  diligent  attendance 
on  the  house  of  God,  the  reading  of  his  word,  and  the  com- 
munion of  his  people  in  class-meeting,  to  work  out  his  sal- 
vation. Mr.  Hand  died  in  peace,  somewhat  suddenly. 
There  was  good  reason  to  believe  that  his  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  Clarke  had  led  him  to  that  "  secret  of  the  Lord," 
that  "  knowledge  of  the  Holy,"  which  is  the  true  elixir  of 
immortal  life,  the  key  to  treasures  incorruptible. 


316  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

These  aerial  excursions  into  the  cloud-land  of  alchemy 
only  gave  Mr.  Clarke  a  greater  value  for  a  standing  on  the 
solid  ground  of  true  science.  He  \vas  disposed  to  look  with 
a  suspicious  eye  upon  whatever  was  wanting  in  demonstra- 
tive evidence ;  and,  on  that  account,  he  never  heartily  con- 
curred with  the  doctrines  of  what  was  then  the  new  school 
of  the  geologists.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that 
geology  was  then,  as  a  science,  only  in  an  inchoate  (not  to 
say,  a  chaotic)  state ;  and,  moreover,  that  infidelity,  though 
foiled  in  the  attempt,  had  endeavored  to  make  an  instru- 
ment of  it  for  the  promotion  of  its  own  injurious  ends.  Dr. 
Clarke  was  only  one  of  many  good  and  learned  men  who, 
on  those  grounds,  set  their  faces  against  what  they  consid- 
ered a  new-fangled,  fantastic,  and  mischievous  delusion  ; 
but  we  are  bold  to  affirm,  that,  had  he  lived  to  our  days, 
(in  which  the  true  science  of  geology  has  emerged  from  its 
inceptive  confusion,  has  shaken  itself  free  from  these  skep- 
tical tendencies,  and,  instead  of  becoming  the  adversary  of 
the  Bible,  has  proved  itself  rather  a  confirming  witness  of 
its  truth,  and  an  interpreter  of  its  words,)  he  would  have 
regarded  it  with  very  different  sentiments. 

It  was  an  axiom  with  him,  that  "  speculative  TRUTH  can 
never  be  alien  from  practical  WISDOM."  He  held  that  all 
knowledge  is  valuable,  and  that  a  minister  of  the  Gospel 
may  find  a  use  for  every  species  of  information.  Thus, 
when  a  young  preacher  once  asked  him  whether  he  would 
advise  him  to  study  mineralogy,  he  promptly  replied,  "  By 
all  means ;  a  Methodist  preacher  should  know  everything. 
Partial  knowledge,  on  any  branch  of  science  or  business,  is 
better  than  total  ignorance.  To  have  a  variety  of  subjects 
of  study  will,  instead  of  exhausting  the  mind,  minister  to  its 
invigoration ;  for,  when  wearied  with  one,  the  surest  means 
of  refreshment  is  to  have  recourse  to  another."  "  The  old 
adage  of  '  Too  many  irons  in  the  fire,' "  said  he,  "  contains 
an  abominable  lie.  You  cannot  have  too  many — poker, 
tongs,  and  all,  keep  them  all  going !" 

Dr.  Clarke's  learning  was  subservient  to  one  design — to 


THE  STUDENT.  317 

know  God,  and  to  make  him  known.  He  carried  the  spirit 
of  the  theologian  into  all  his  inquiries,  and  it  was  as  a  divine 
that  he  reached  his  highest  glory.  In  the  direct  study  of 
theology  his  main  book  was  the  Bible.  That  with  him  was 
the  fans  et  origo  of  all  religious  truth.  All  his  reading  had 
a  bearing  upon  the  elucidation  of  the  Scriptures.  His  im- 
mense library,  amounting  at  last  to  about  ten  thousand 
printed  volumes,  and  a  large  collection  of  ancient  and  Ori- 
ental manuscripts,  formed,  as  we  may  say,  one  vast  com- 
mentary on  the  sacred  book.  In  this  large  collection  of 
works,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  writings  of  the  Puritans, 
English  sermon  writers,  and  English  divines  in  general, 
formed  a  comparatively  inconsiderable  part.  In  fact  he  did 
not  read  much  in  that  line.  He  felt  that  to  understand,  be- 
lieve, and  live  the  Bible,  insured  him  an  endless  supply  of 
reflection  and  sentiment  which  made  him  independent  of 
them  all.  He  liked  Baxter  and  Howe,  and  a  few  more,  but 
never  leaned  upon  them.  As  to  Dr.  Owen,  sometimes 
called  "  the  prince  of  English  theologians,"  he  estimated 
him  in  some  respects  very  cheaply.  In  one  of  his  letters  to 
Hugh  Stuart  Boyd  he  gives  his  opinion  of  Owen,  which 
some  readers  may  wish  to  see : 

"  Now  about  Owen.  1.  He  was  a  good  scholar.  2.  A 
rigid  Calvinist.  3.  A  very  good  man.  4.  A  voluminous 
writer.  5.  A  very  indifferent  critic.  But  in  this  he  was 
excusable,  because  the  ars  critica  was  in  his  time  in  its  cra- 
dle. The  morality  of  the  Gospel  was  sacred  with  him.  He 
saw  and  bewailed  the  antinomianism  that  was  spreading  in 
his  day,  and  wrote  strongly  against  it.  As  a  writer  I  know 
him  chiefly  from  his  Considerations  on  the  Polyglot,  and  his 
voluminous  comment  on  the  Hebrews.  To  some  I  should 
seem  a  heretic  were  I  to  pronounce  these  writings  clumsy, 
inelegant,  obscure,  and  overwhelmed  with  verbiage.  He 
sometimes  spends  forty  pages  to  explain  what  even  in  his 
own  way  might  be  dispatched  in  as  many  lines.  His  sense 
and  meaning  he  drowns  in  a  world  of  words.  To  me  he  is 
one  of  the  most  unsatisfactory  writers.  As  to  his  book  OH 


318  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

the  Hebrews,  I  would  rather  a  hundred  times  do  my  work 
myself,  than  watch  him  going  a  hundred  miles  about,  in 
order  to  come  back  to  the  next  door.*  ...  I  should  think 
it  is  impossible  for  such  a  man  to  write  clearly  on  any  sub- 
ject. He  cannot  condense  his  meaning,  and  never  comes  to 
the  point,  but  by  the  most  intolerable  circumlocution.  .  .  . 
I  have  heard  a  good  character  of  his  work  on  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  but  I  am  so  completely  sick  with  wading  through 
his  Hebrews,  that  I  shall  never  have  courage  to  encounter 
him  again.  He  attempted  to  answer  John  Goodwin's  '  Re- 
demption Redeemed ;'  but,  from  what  I  have  seen  of  this, 
he  is  like  a  mouse  under  the  paws  of  a  lion.  Goodwin  was 
a  thorough  logician,  and  there  were  no  odds  and  ends  about 
his  mind.  I  do  not,  however,  search  any  of  their  works  for 
information  on  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  Where 
we  agree,  I  find  they  can  add  nothing  to  me ;  and  I  have 
defended  and  proved  the  same  truths  by  modes  of  reasoning 
of  which  they  appear  to  have  never  thought.  ...  I  do  not 
find  in  the  whole  universe  of  writing,  from  the  earliest 
Fathers  down  to  the  lowest  Puritans,  so  clear,  consistent, 
and  comprehensive  a  view  of  the  great  doctrines  of  salvation 
as  that  held  and  taught  by  the  Methodists." 

On  the  other  hand,  in  patristic  theology  Dr.  Clarke  had 
read  widely.  The  preparation  of  \hat  useful  work  of  his, 
"  A  concise  Account  of  Sacred  Literature,"  required  a  per- 
sonal examination  of  the  works  of  the  Fathers,  which  resulted 
in  an  acquaintance  with  them  sufficiently  familiar  to  enable 
him  to  refer  at  any  time  to  them  for  an  evidence,  an  argu- 
ment, or  an  illustration.  With  such  of  the  great  theolo- 
gians of  the  Continent  as  wrote  in  Latin  and  French,  he  had 
also  an  extensive  intercourse.  But  the  books  he  loved  the 
most  were  those  which  bore  most  intimately  upon  the  one 

*  Kobert  Hall  was  of  the  same  opinion.  He  says :  As  a  reasoner  Owen 
is  most  illogical ;  for  he  always  takes  for  granted  what  he  ought  to  prove, 
while  lie  is  always  proving  what  ho  ought  to  take  for  granted ;  and,  after 
a  long  digression,  he  concludes,  very  properly,  with,  "  This  is  not  our  con- 
and  returns  to  enter  on  something  still  farther  from  the  point. 


THE  STUDENT.  319 

Book.  Like  Martin  Luther,  he  was  "  a  doctor  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures ;"  in  the  most  eminent  sense  of  the  term,  a  Bib- 
lical divine. 

To  attain,  while  pursuing  the  toilsome  avocation  of  a 
Methodist  preacher's  life,  such  stores  of  erudition,  and  to 
dispense  them  in  his  numerous  works  for  the  promotion  of 
knowledge  and  religion  in  his  own  and  future  generations, 
demanded  an  intensity  of  zeal,  and  a  heroism  of  perseverance, 
which  excite  our  reverence  and  admiration.  Such  a  man 
reminds  us  of  a  sublime  passage  in  Ezekiel,  where  the  pro- 
phet, describing  the  characteristics  of  the  intellectual  agents 
employed  in  effecting  the  great  revolutions  of  Providence, 
tells  us  that  each  of  them  had  the  fourfold  visage  of  the 
eagle,  the  ox,  the  lion,  and  the  man,  as  symbolical  of  ele- 
vation of  purpose,  patience  in  labor,  courage  which  domi- 
nates over  all  opposition,  and  love  which  sanctifies  all. 

One  secret  by  which  he  achieved  so  much  was  the  careful 
redemption  of  time.  With  him  the  night  was  for  repose, 
but  the  day  was  for  labor  ;  and  his  day  began  at  the  begin- 
ning. Like  Milton,  he  was  up  "  in  summer  with  the  bird 
that  first  rises,  and  in  the  winter  before  the  sound  of  any 
bell ;"  but,  unlike  the  Penseroso  of  the  same  great  poet,  he 
would  not  say — 

"  Let  my  lamp  at  midnight  hour 
Be  seen  in  some  high  lonely  tower ; 
Where  I  may  oft  outwatch  the  Bear, 
With  thrice  great  Hermes,  or  unsphere 
The  spirit  of  Plato,  to  unfold 
What  worlds  or  what  vast  regions  hold 
Th'  immortal  mind  that  hath  forsook 
Her  mansion  in  this  fleshly  nook ; 
And  of  those  demons  that  are  found 
In  fire,  air,  flood,  or  under  ground, 
Whose  power  hath  a  true  consent 
With  planet,  or  with  element." 

However  he  might  have  desired  with  the  poet  to  know 
these  mysteries,  Adam  Clarke  would  certainly  have  objected 
to  watch  all  the  night  in  learning  thein.  He  was  ever  of 
opinion  that  late  studies,  when  early  ones  are  given  up  for 


320  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

them,  are  disadvantageous  as  to  the  comparative  amount  of 
work  done,  as  well  as  destructive  of  the  health  and  life  of 
the  agent.  He  called  this  night  toil  "  burning  out  the  can- 
dle of  life  at  both  ends."*  But  the  hours  of  the  day  ho  was 
most  assiduous  in  improving  ;  and  though  he  could  not  say 
with  Buda^us,  that  "  the  only  day  he  lost  in  his  life  was  that 
on  which  he  was  married,  for  on  that  day  he  could  only  read 
six  hours,"  yet  very  few  men  have  lost  fewer  days  than  Dr. 
Clarke.  For  even  when  obliged  to  leave  home  on  a  jour- 
ney, he  would  carry  with  him  the  materials  for  reading  and 
writing,  and  still  work  by  the  way,  on  the  coach  or  at  the  inn. 
For  long  journeys  he  had  what  he  termed  his  "  portable 
library,"  packed  into  a  convenient  case,  divided  into  com- 
partments, for  a  small  copy  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  Septua- 
gint.  Greek  Testament,  English  Bible,  Common  Prayer 
Book,  Virgil,  and  Horace.  He  carried  his  ink-bottle  sus- 
pended from  his  neck  by  a  riband,  and  lodged  in  his  waist- 
coat pocket. 

Diligence  like  this,  actuated  and  sustained  for  more  than 
half  a  century  by  love  to  the  God  of  truth,  and  zeal  for  the 
salvation  of  souls,  led  to  results  which  have  lifted  up  his 
name  among  those  of  the  true  benefactors  of  mankind.  We 
see  in  his  exemplary  life  how  a  large  amassment  of  good 
may  accrue  from  small  beginnings."  Like  the  river,  which, 
rising  a  feeble  streamlet,  in  some  lonely  waste,  deepens  and 
widens  by  the  accession  of  stream  after  stream,  as  it  rolls 
onward  in  its  fertilizing  course,  till  it  vanishes  in  the  gran- 
deur of  the  ocean,  the  intellectual  and  religious  career  of 
this  faithful  and  wise  servant,  who  learned  that  he  might 

*  A  catalogue  having  been  sentto  him  late  one  evening,  he  saw  among 
the  books  advertised  a  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  Erasmus's  Greek  Tes- 
tament. Early  on  the  following  morning  he  went  off  and  bought  it.  A 
few  hours  after,  a  well-known  literary  man,  Dr.  Gossett,  came  to  the  How- 
la  quest  of  the  same  book.  Learning  that  Dr.  Clarke  had  purchased  it, 
he  called  on  him  and  requested  to  see  it.  Gossett :  You  have  been  for- 
tunate ;  but  how  you  got  the  book  before  me,  I  am  nt  a  loss  to  imagine  ; 
for  I  was  at  Buynes's  directly  after  breakfast.  Clarke:  But  I  WHS 
then-  before  breakfast. 


THE  STUDENT.  321 

teach,  and  who  taught  that  men  might  be  saved  and  God 
glorified,  was  a  progress  in  which  strength  was  added  to 
strength,  and  blessing  to  blessing. 

"  I  said,  I  will  water  my  garden, 

I  will  abundantly  water  my  garden-bed  ; 

And,  lo,  my  brook  became  a  river, 

And  my  river,  a  sea ; 

Therefore  will  I  make  doctrine  to  shine  like  the  morning, 

And  will  reveal  it  to  those  who  are  afar ; 

I  will  pour  forth  instruction  as  prophecy, 

And  will  leave  it  for  generations  to  come ; 

For,  behold,  I  have  not  labored  for  myself  alone, 

But  for  all  who  inquire  after  Truth." 

JOSHUA  BEN  SIRA  :  Mashalim,  c.  24. 
21 


322  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE     AUTHOR. 

"JESUS  saith  unto  them,  Have  ye  understood  all  these 
things?  They  say  unto  him,  Yea  Lord.  Then  said  he  un- 
to them.  Therefore  every  scribe  which  is  instructed  unto  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  man  that  is  a  householder, 
who  bringeth  forth  out  of  his  treasure  things  new  and  old." 
Matthew  xiii,  51,  52.  Dr.  Clarke  belonged  to  that  class 
of  authors  whose  affluence  of  information  and  fertility  of 
thought  render  the  communication  of  knowledge  to  others 
at  once  a  duty  and  a  pleasure.  He  wrote,  as  well  as 
preached,  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart.  The  same 
guiding  power  which  had  given  him  the  impulse  to  learn, 
moved  him  also  to  teach.  His  views  were  but  humble  at 
first.  When,  in  the  Norman  Isles,  he  commenced  writing 
some  reflections  on  various  chapters  of  the  New  Testament, 
he  expressed  in  one  of  his  letters  a  doubt  whether  they 
would  ever  be  read  by  any  one  but  himself,  and  signified, 
in  another,  his  persuasion  that  the  Lord  had  not  appointed 
him  to  be  an  instructor  of  others  by  the  pen.  •  But  the 
time  had  not  then  come.  The  fallow  ground  is  first  pre- 
pared, and  the  seed  sown ;  then  does  the  earth  bring  forth 
of  itself  the  blade,  the  ear,  and  the  full  corn  in  the  ear ; 
and  the  sickle  is  put  in  because  the  harvest  is  ripe.  We 
have  seen  how  he  labored  in  the  improvement  of  his 
mind ;  his  works,  whether  as  a  preacher  or  an  author,  show 
the  result.  Those  toilsome  seasons  of  intellectual  tillage 
yielded,  and  are  still  yielding,  harvests  unto  life  eternal. 

The  characteristic  of  his  literary  works  is  INSTRUCTIVE- 
NESS.  If  he  wrote,  it  was  because  he  had  something  to  tell 


THE  AUTHOR.  323 

you  worth  your  knowing.  Hence  his  pages  are  crowded 
with  information,  and  that  which  has  generally  a  bearing 
on  the  personal  welfare  of  the  reader.  As  to  style,  he  is 
perfectly  unpretending ;  if  not  ornate,  still  never  common- 
place or  unpleasant ;  and,  though  plain,  yet  often  solemnly 
forcible.  The  staid  self-possession  and  dignity  of  the  scholar 
are  blended  with  the  gracious  dispositions  of  the  Christian. 
Such,  indeed,  are  the  intrinsic  reality  and  value  of  what  he 
is  telling  you,  that  you  become  insensible  to  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  told.  You  have  the  feeling,  while  reading,  that 
the  author  who  is  absorbing  your  attention  more  and  more 
is  an  honest  and  earnest  man,  who  is  bent  on  doing  you 
good  for  time  and  eternity.  Such  is  the  good  spirit  which 
breathes  in  these  works,  that  a  person  who  reads  much  of 
them  will  get  to  feel  toward  the  writer  as  if  he  were  a  per- 
sonal friend,  or  a  wise  and  loving  father. 

The  doctor's  writings  are  so  voluminous,  and  our  limits 
so  restricted,  that  we  can  do  little  more  in  the  present  chap- 
ter than  indicate  the  subjects  which  he  has  treated. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  papers  written  for  the  Maga- 
zine, nothing  had  appeared  from  his  pen,  bearing  his  own 
name,  before  1797,  when  he  published  "  A  Dissertation  on 
the  Use  and  Abuse  of  Tobacco,"  an  essay  which,  it  must 
be  confessed,  is  well  argued  and  well  written.  It  abounds 
with  useful  and  curious  information,  botanical,  medical,  and 
historical ;  and,  in  relation  to  the  purpose  which  the  author 
had  at  heart  in  writing  it — to  offer  a  warning  against  the 
indiscriminate  use  of  tobacco — he  has  said  what  well  mer- 
its the  attention,  of  its  votaries.  The  recent  discussions 
which  have  been  so  extensively  carried  on  in  "  The  Lancet " 
and  other  publications,  on  the  same  subject,  have  given  the 
strongest  scientific  corroboration  to  the  view  which  Mr. 
Clarke  takes  of  the  injurious  effects,  both  physical  and 
moral,  which  follow  the  immoderate  use  of  the  fragrant  but 
seductive  and  dangerous  leaf.  It  should  be  added,  that  this 
pamphlet  has  been  the  means  of  doing  much  good  hi  ful- 
filling to  some  extent  the  wishes  of  the  author. 


324  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

His  next  considerable  venture  was  an  improved  transla- 
tion of  Sturm's  "  Reflections  on  the  Being  and  Attributes 
of  God,  and  on  his  Works  both  in  Nature  and  Providence ;" 
a  popular  work,  too  well  known  to  need  any  description 
here.  Though  the  translator  worked  upon  a  French  edition, 
so  producing  a  version  of  a  version,  yet  he  had  carefully 
collated  his  exemplar  with  the  German  original,  to  be  satis- 
fied as  to  its  correctness.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  did 
not  do  this  with  the  first  German  edition,  as  that  is  enriched 
with  many  beautiful  devotional  verses,  which  are  not  given 
in  the  Franch  translation.*  Still,  he  preferred  the  latter  as 
his  text,  on  account  of  many  substantial  improvements  in  it. 
For  it  was  Mr.  Clarke's  purpose,  not  so  much  to  give  a 
literal  translation  of  Sturm,  as  to  provide  a  book  of  relig- 
ious meditations  as  good  as  he  could  make  it.  He  has  ac- 
cordingly augmented  the  work  with  a  variety  of  matter, 
scientific  and  devotional,  giving  it  high  rank  among  works 
of  the  class  in  the  English  or  any  other  language.  The 
manuscript,  in  Mr.  Clarke's  bold  handwriting,  may  be  seen 
in  the  library  of  the  Wesley  an  College  at  Richmond. 

A  similar  undertaking  was  a  translation  of  Fleury's 
"  Treatise  on  the  Manners  of  the  Ancient  Israelites ;  con- 
taining an  Account  of  their  Customs,  Ceremonies,  Laws, 
Polity,  Religion,  Sects,  Arts,  and  Trades ;  their  Division  of 
Time,  Wars,  Captivities,  Dispersion,  and  present  State." 

*  I  transcribe  a  specimen  of  these  good  verses : 

Fluchtig  ist  die  edle  Zeit, 

Gross  sind  unsre  pflichten  f 

Lehr  urn  fur  die  Ewigkeit, 

Jede  treu  verrichten, 

Jede  from/me  gute  That 

Lass  uns  wohl  gelingen, 

Frucht  lass  jede  Tugendsaat 

Fur  den  Himmel  bringen. — Jan.  1. 

Wir  leben  liier  zur  Ewiglceit, 
Zu  thun  was  uns  der  Herr  gebeut ; 
Und  unsere  Leben*  kl#inster  Theil 
1st  cine  Print  zu  vftfcnn  Ilfil. — Jnn.  2. 


THE  AUTHOR.  325 

Claude  Fleury  was  abbe  of  Argenteuil,  and  a  member  of 
Hie  Royal  Academy  ;  a  man  of  piety  and  learning.  His 
work  has  always  been  a  favorite  one  with  good  men  of 
every  Church.  Bishop  Home,  in  giving  it  his  hearty  recom- 
mendation, says  that  "  it  is  an  excellent  introduction  to  the 
reading  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  should  be  put  into  the 
hands  of  every  young  person."*  Mr.  Clarke  may  be  said 
to  have  published  a  new  edition,  rather  than  a  new  transla- 
tion, of  this  pleasing  manual ;  as  he  took  for  his  text  the 
translation  published  in  1756,  by  Ellis  Farneworth,  though 
made  in  reality  by  Thomas  Bedford,  of  Compton,  Derby- 
shire. In  acknowledging  this,  he  says  he  was  convinced 
that  a  better  one  on  the  whole  could  scarcely  be  hoped  for, 
the  language  being  pure  and  elegant,  and  the  spirit  and  unc- 
tion of  the  original  excellently  preserved.  As  in  the  case 
of  Sturm,  the  editor  enriched  the  book  with  many  import- 
ant additions. 

A  more  formidable  work  was  now  in  progress — the  Bib- 
liographical Dictionary,  in  six  volumes  ;  the  first  of  which 
issued  from  the  press  in  1802,  and  the  last  two  years  later. 
In  this  elaborate  compilation  he  gives  a  chronological  ac- 
count of  the  most  curious,  scarce,  and  important  books  in 
all  departments  of  literature — Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Cop- 
tic, Syriac,  Chaldee,  Ethiopic,  Arabic,  Persian,  and  Armen- 
ian— from  the  infancy  of  printing  to  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  In  doing  this  he  has  condensed  the 
most  valuable  materials  treasured  up  in  many  expensive 
works :  as  Le  Long's  Bibliotheca  Sacra  ;  Mattaire's  Annales 
Typographici ;  Vogt's  Catalogus  Historico-Criticus  ;  Mar- 
chand's  Histoire  de  FOrigine  et  des  Progresde  Flmprimerie  ; 
De  Bure's  Bibliographic  Instructive ;  Meerman's  Oriaines 
TypographicoB ;  Osmont's  Dictionnaire  Typoyraphiqve, 
Historique,  et  Critique  des  Livres  JRarcs;  De  Rossi's  Appa 
ratus  Biblicus;  Cailleau's  Dictionnaire  Typographique  ; 
Panzer's  Annales  Typographici;  Heinsius's  Allgemeines 
Backer  Lexicon;  Bowyer's  "  Origin  of  Printing,"  and  Har- 

*  Discourses,  vol.  i. 


326  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

wood's  "View  of  the  Classics,"  which  last  he  has  trans- 
ferred, bodily,  into  his  work.  The  dry  details  of  bookcraft 
are  relieved  by  biographical  notices  and  anecdotes  of  the 
most  eminent  authors,  and  critical  judgments  of  their  pro- 
ductions. On  the  editions  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  both 
separately,  and  in  the  Polyglot  collections,  the  Dictionary 
is  of  especial  value.  Great  attention  is  also  paid  to  the 
classical  authors  in  Greek  and  Latin.  In  the  department 
of  Rabbinical  literature,  we  do  not  find  the  amount  of  infor- 
mation which  might  have  been  expected ;  and  the  same 
failure  may  be  observed  in  most  of  the  above  works  which 
Mr.  Clarke  took  as  his  authorities.  In  following  years  he 
kept  a  steady  eye  on  an  improved  and  enlarged  edition,  for 
which  he  noted  down  some  thousands  of  additions  and 
amendments. 

In  1806  he  published  a  Supplement  to  the  Dictionary, 
with  the  title  of  the  "  Bibliographical  Miscellany,"  in  two 
volumes;  in  the  first  of  which  may  be  found,  1.  An 
account  of  the  English  translations  of  all  the  Greek  and 
Roman  classics  and  ecclesiastical  writers,  with  critical  re- 
marks, from  the  best  authorities ;  and,  2.  An  extensive  list 
of  Arabic  and  Persian  grammars,  lexicons,  and  elementary 
treatises,  with  a  description  of  the  principal  works  of  the 
best  Arabic  and  Persian  writers,  whether  printed  or  in 
manuscript,  with  such  English  translations  of  them  as  had 
been  hitherto  accomplished. 

The  second  volume  is  equally  a  "  Miscellany."  It  opens 
with  remarks  on  the  origin  of  language  and  of  alphabet- 
ical characters,  and  then  gives  a  short  history  of  the  origin 
of  printing,  and  the  introduction  and  perfection  of  the  art  in 
Italy;  a  catalogue  of  authors  on  bibliography  and  typo- 
graphy, in  four  classes ;  an  alphabetical  list  of  all  the  cities 
and  towns  where  printing  was  carried  on  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  with  the  title  of  the  first  book  printed  in  each 
place.  Then  follow  an  Essay  on  Bibliography,  which 
dilates  on  the  knowledge  and  love  of  books ;  and  an  account 
of  several  bibliographical  systems,  exhibiting  the  proper 


THE  AUTHOR.  327 

% 

method  of  arranging  books  in  a  large  library.  It  will  be 
perceived  that  this  work  has  great  attractions  for  reading 
men  ;  and  its  value  is  yet  enhanced  to  the  student,  by  copi- 
ous tables  of  the  Olympiads,  the  Roman  calendar,  and  the 
Mohammedan  Hegira  and  Chalifate. 

Though  the  Bibliographical  Dictionary  had  a  very  encour- 
aging sale,  it  has  never  been  reprinted.  Large  materials 
were  left  by  Dr.  Clarke  for  an  improved  edition.  He  had 
intended  also  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  the  Dictionary, 
by  a  supplementary  work  of  the  same  kind  on  the  literature 
of  the  modern  European  languages. 

While  these  works  were  yet  in  hand,  his  active  pen  threw 
off  several  minor  pieces,  which  were  eagerly  read  at  the 
time,  and  will  always  reward  the  attention  of  those  who  are 
interested  in  the  subjects  of  which  they  treat.  Among 
them  were  two  polemical  pieces  against  M.  Du  Perron, 
occasioned  by  that  gentleman's  attack  on  the  literary  charac- 
ters of  Sir  William  Jones,  and  Mr.  William  Hunter  of 
Bengal ;  a  Dissertation  on  the  Silver  Disc  in  the  Cabinet 
of  Antiquities  in  Paris,  commonly  called  "Scipio's  Buck- 
ler ;"  a  curious  Essay  on  Witchraft ;  two  very  useful  Com- 
pendiums  of  the  various  Editions  of  the  Polyglot  Bibles, 
and  of  the  Greek  Testament ;  and  a  critical  Dissertation  on 
the  Text  of  the  Tree  Divine  Witnesses,  with  fac-similes  of 
1  John  v,  7-9,  as  they  stand  in  the  first  edition  of  the  New 
Testament  printed  at  Complutum  in  1514,  and  in  the  Codex 
Jtfontfortii,  a  manuscript  in  the  library  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin. 

The  conductors  of  the  Eclectic  Review,  which  was  estab- 
lished in  1804,  wished,  at  the  very  outset  of  their  under- 
taking, to  secure  Mr.  Clarke  as  a  regular  contributor,  espe- 
cially in  the  Biblical  and  Oriental  branches  ;  and,  in  compli- 
ance with  their  pressing  invitation,  he  prepared  for  the 
opening  number  a  review  of  Granville  Sharp's  Tracts  on  the 
Hebrew  Language,  and  Yeates's  Hebrew  Grammar.  And 
subsequently,  from  time  to  time,  he  wrote  for  that  periodi- 
cal articles  of  so  much  intrinsic  value,  that  we  rejoice  to  find 


328  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLAKKE. 

• 

them  embodied  in  a  permanent  form  in  the  tenth  volume  of 
his  Miscellaneous  Works.  They  comprise  Reviews  of  Sir 
William  Jones's  Persian  Grammar,  Bell's  Greek  Grammar, 
Whittaker's  Latin  Grammar  ;  Lord  Teignmouth's  Memoirs 
of  Sir  W.  Jones ;  Stock  on  the  Prophet  Isaiah ;  Holmes's 
Edition  of  the  Septuagint ;  Wilkin's  Arabic  and  Persian 
Dictionary ;  Barrett's  Evangelium  secundum  Mattkceum; 
Gilchrist's  New  Theory  of  the  Persian  Verbs;  De  Sacy's 
Chrestomathie  Arabe ;  Western's  Fragments  of  Oriental 
Literature ;  and  Dean  Graves's  Lectures  on  the  Pentateuch. 
All  these  disquisitions  are  marked  by  a  thoroughness  and 
solidity  which  will  always  make  them  most  acceptable  to 
inquirers  into  the  various  subjects  of  philology  and  criticism 
to  which  they  refer.  The  writer,  with  no  ostentation,  shows 
his  own  mastery  of  the  branch  of  learning  forming  the  sub- 
ject of  the  books  reviewed;  and  not  only  gives  a  lucid 
account  of  their  contents,  but  adds  to  the  sum  of  informa- 
tion to  be  found  in  them,  from  his  own  rich  stores.* 

In  September,  1807,  he  published,  in  one  volume,  "A 
concise  View  of  the  Succession  of  Sacred  Literature,  in  a 
Chronological  Arrangement  of  Authors  and  their  Works  to 
the  Year  of  our  Lord  345."  Most  of  the  sheets  had  been 
printed  more  than  three  years,  the  author  having  been  pre- 
vented fruiu  completing  it.  The  main  value  of  this  book 
lies  in  the  analytical  account  it  gives  us  of  the  writings  of 
the  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers  who  lived  before  the  Council 
of  Nice.  Mr.  Clarke's  account  of  these  writings  is  not 
second-hand  compilation,  but  derived  in  general  from  a  per- 
sonal examination  of  the  works  themselves.  Even  the 
"Bibliotheque  des  Auteurs  Ecclesiastiques  "  of  the  Sorbon- 
nist,  Du  Pin,  (in  itself  a  treasure  of  that  kind  of  lore,)  was 
not  in  his  possession  while  engaged  in  this  task.  The 
author's  original  design,  to  bring  down  the  resume  of  the 
ecclesiastical  writers  to  the  time  of  the  invention  of  print- 

*  To  these  (Eclectic)  reviews  we  may  add  another,  on  Exley's  Theory 
of  Physics,  which  appeared  in  the  Literary  Gazette,  and  is  reprinted  in 
the  tenth  volume  of  the  Works. 


THE   AUTHOR.  829 

ing,  was  not  accomplished  by  himself,  but  by  his  son,  the 
Rev.  J.  B.  B.  Clarke,  who  fulfilled  it  in  the  production  of  a 
second  volume  much  larger  than  the  first,  and  in  a  manner 
that  bore  out  the  high  estimate  his  father  had  taken  of  his 
qualifications  and  ability  for  such  a  work.  The  second 
volume  was  published  in  1831,  the  year  before  the  decease 
of  Dr.  Clarke,  who  prefixed  the  following  words  :  "  As  the 
continuation  is  announced  under  another  name,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  state  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  seek  that  help 
in  others  once  found  in  myself,  of  which  length  of  days  and 
impaired  sight  have  deprived  me.*  To  my  son,  J.  B.  B. 
Clarke,  M.  A.,  I  have  delivered  up  all  my  papers,  (the 
whole  of  which  have  been  added  to  what  was  previously 
published,  and  constitute  the  completion  of  the  first  part,) 
with  the  fullest  conviction  that  from  his  natural  taste  for 
this  species  of  study,  so  nearly  allied  to  his  sacred  function, 
and  from  his  various  learning  and  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  subject,  he  is  amply  qualified  to  conduct  it,  with  credit 
to  himself  and  profit  to  the  reader,  to  that  issue  at  which 
his  father  aimed — the  glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  his 
Church." 

About  the  time  of  the  publication  of  the  first  volume,  Dr. 
Clarke  was  diligently  at  work  on  a  new  edition  of  Shuck- 
ford's  "Sacred  and  Profane  History  of  the  World,"  for 
which  he  had  made  numerous  notes  and  corrections  ;  but 
the  book,  when  nearly  through  the  press,  was  consumed  by 
a  fire  which  burned  down  the  printing-office.  This  calamity 
destroyed  also  another  work  on  which  he  had  spent  yet 
more  labor — an  edition  of  Harmer's  "  Observations  on 
various  Passages  of  Scripture."  Shuckford  he  did  not 
resume,  but  gave  it  over  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Creighton,  who 

*In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Clarke,  dated  1816,  when  away  from  home,  the 
Doctor  says :  "  Tell  Joseph  for  the  Lord's  sake  to  give  all  diligence  at 
Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Latin.  1  must  soon  be  worn  out,  at  least  as  to  my 
eyes ;  and  if  there  be  not  some  one  to  go  on  with  my  unfinished  works, 
all  will  be  ruin."  He  found  in  Joseph  the  helper  he  wanted.  Of  this 
amiable  and  learned  clergyman  see  a  short  account  further  on. 


830  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

brought  it  forward  again ;  but  to  Ilarmer  he  applied  with 
renewed  zeal.  By  improving  the  style,  and  inserting  the 
Hebrew  and  Greek  words  (where  it  could  be  done  advan- 
tageously) in  the  Scripture  quotations,  with  the  Masoretic 
pronunciation  of  the  Hebrew,  by  illustrating  some  pas- 
sages from  Eastern  authors,  and  adding  a  series  of  observa- 
tions designed  to  show  the  benefit  afforded  by  the  Greek 
and  Roman  classics  as  means  of  illustration  in  many  pas- 
sages of  Scripture,  he  produced  an  edition  of  this  useful 
work  incomparably  superior  to  any  one  of  the  four  which 
had  preceded  it. 

Another  editorial  undertaking  was  a  reprint  of  the  Con- 
cordance to  the  Bible  which  had  been  published  a  long  time 
before  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Butterworth  of  Coventry ;  a  good 
work  of  the  kind,  which,  however,  under  the  care  of  Dr. 
Clarke,  became  much  better,  by  the  incorporation  of  addi- 
tional matter  prepared  by  the  author  himself,  by  the  ex- 
punging of  some  erroneous  statements  relating  to  the  natu- 
ral history  of  the  Bible,  by  more  critical  expositions  of  the 
proper  names,  and  by  revision  of  the  theological  definitions. 
As  a  Concordance,  this  edition  comprises  the  good  qualities 
of  being  correct,  pleasant,  and  portable. 

In  original  composition,  the  Account  of  the  Ecclesiastical 
Writers  was  now  followed  by  a  treatise  on  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, with  the  title  of  "A  Discourse  on  the  Nature,  Insti- 
tution, and  Design  of  the  Holy  Eucharist."  The  primary 
idea  of  this  disquisition  may  be  expressed  by  a  sentence 
from  the  Introduction  :  "  The  Eucharist  I  consider  a  rite  de- 
signed by  God  to  keep  up  a  continual  remembrance  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  atonement."  In  bringing  this  out  to  view, 
great  stress  is  laid  upon  the  analogy  between  the  Lord's 
Supper  in  the  New  Testament  dispensation,  and  the  paschal 
supper  under  the  Old.  In  the  introduction  he  examines  the 
question,  whether  our  Lord  ate  the  Passover  with  his  dis- 
ciples in  the  last  year  of  his  ministry ;  and  inclines  to  the 
opinion  that  he  did  partake  of  the  paschal  supper  with  them, 
but  not  at  the  same  hour  with  the  Jews ;  and  that  he  expired 


THE    AUTHOR.  331 

on  the  cross  the  same  hour  in  which  the  paschal  lamb  was 
slain.  He  then  proceeds  to  his  theme,  "that  Christ  our 
Passover  is  sacrificed  for  us,  and  that  he  has  instituted  this 
rite  as  a  perpetual  memorial  of  that  his  precious  death  until 
his  coming  again ;  and  they  who,  with  a  sincere  heart  and 
true  faith  in  his  passion  and  death,  partake  of  it,  shall  be 
made  partakers  of  his  most  blessed  body  and  blood :"  in  the 
discussion  of  which  he  points  out : 

I.  The  nature  and  design  of  this  institution :  here  drawing 
a  parallel  between  it  and  the  Passover ;  embodying,  as  he 
goes  on,  some  rich  quotations  from  the  great  doctors  of  the 
Hebrew  and  Christian  communions. 

II.  The  manner  of  its  celebration :  where  he  gives  a  har- 
mony of  the  Gospel  narratives  of  the  last  supper,  and  takes 
occasion  to  urge  the  importance  of  retaining  the  materials 
of  the  communion  as  they  were  appointed  by  our  Saviour ; 
that  is,  unleavened  bread,  to  be  broken  in  the  act  of  adminis- 
tration ;  and  the  use  of  the  purest  wine,  or  the  unadulterated 
juice  of  the  grape. 

III.  The  proper  meaning  of  the  different  epithets  given 
to  it  in  the  Scriptures  and  the  primitive  Church.     1.  The 
Eucharist.     2.  Lord's  Supper.     3.  Sacrifice.     4.  Breaking 
of  Bread.      5.   Communion.      6.   Sacrament.      7.   Paschal 
Feast,  Passover.     He  explains  these  terms  with  a  profusion 
of  learning.     In  defining  the  term  "  sacrament,"  he  seems  to 
restrict  the  meaning  to  the  oath  of  fidelity  and  obedience 
He  takes  occasion  in  one  place  to  ask,  "  Who,  then,  should 
approach  this  awful  ordinance?"  and  answers,  1.  Every  be- 
liever in  Jesus  Christ.     2.  Every  genuine  penitent;  "for 
the  promises  of  pardon  are  made  to  him."     And  as  to  the 
question,  "Who  are  they  who  should  administer  it?"  he 
answers,  "  Every  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  only ;" 
adding :  "  I  shall  not  dispute  here  about  the  manner  in  which 
a  man  may  be  appointed  to  officiate  in  any  branch  of  the 
Church  of  God.    The  pure  Church  of  Christ  exists  exclusively 
nowhere.     It  lives   in  its  universality  in  the  various  con- 
gregations and  societies  which  profess  the  Gospel  of  the  Son 


332  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

of  God :  therefore  I  contend  not  here  for  this  or  that  mode 
of  ordination.  But  I  contend  that  the  man  alone  who  is  ap- 
pointed to  minister  in  holy  things,  according  to  the  regular 
usages  of  that  Church  to  which  he  belongs,  has  a  right  to 
preach  God's  holy  word  or  to  administer  his  sacraments." 

IV.  The  reasons  for  frequent  communion.  1.  The  com- 
mand given  by  our  Lord  to  do  this  in  remembrance  of  him. 
2.  The  eucharist  sets  forth  the  truth  of  the  atonement;  it 
represents  the  great  Sacrifice,  and  should  therefore  be  con- 
stantly observed.  3.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  pastor  to  urge  its 
observance  on  the  flock.  4.  It  is  a  standing  and  inexpug- 
nable proof  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Christian  religion. 

In  a  postscript  the  author  gives  some  extracts  from  a 
Saxon  homily,  and  others  from  ^Elfric's  Epistles,  to  show 
that  the  early  English  Churches  did  not  hold  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation. 

On  the  memorable  words  of  our  Saviour,  "  Take,  eat ; 
this  is  my  body,"  Dr.  Clarke,  in  opposition  to  the  Romish 
doctrine,  affirms  the  meaning  to  be,  "This  represents  my 
body ;"  observes  that  in  the  same  way  the  Paschal  lamb  is 
called  the  Passover,  because  it  represented  the  means  ap- 
pointed for  the  preservation  of  the  Israelites  from  the  blast 
of  the  destroying  angel ;  and  then  proceeds  to  make  a  philo- 
logical remark  which  has  called  forth  some  grave  discussion. 
"  Besides,"  writes  he,  "  our  Lord  did  not  say,  Hoc  est  corpus 
meum,  '  This  is  my  body,'  as  he  did  not  speak  in  the  Latin 
tongue;  though  as  much  stress  has  been  laid  upon  this  quo- 
tation from  the  Vulgate  version  by  the  papists  as  if  the 
original  of  the  three  evangelists  had  been  written  in  Latin. 
Had  he  spoken  in  Latin,  following  the  idiom  of  the  Vulgate, 
he  would  have  said,  Pauls  hie  corpus  meum  significat,  or 
symbolum  est  corporis  met :  '  This  bread  signifies  my  body.' 
But  let  it  be  observed,  that  in  the  Scriptures,  as  they  stand 
in  the  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and  Chaldaeo-Syriac  languages,  there 
is  no  term  which  expresses  to  mean,  signify,  or  denote,  though 
both  the  Greek  and  Latin  abound  with  them :  hence  the 
Hebrews  use  a  figure,  and  say,  It  is,  for  It  signifies."  Of 


THE    AUTHOR.  333 

this  mode  of  speaking  he  gives  a  variety  of  examples.  The 
same  train  of  remark  he  has  embodied  in  his  commentary 
on  the  twenty -sixth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew. 

Cardinal  Wiseman,  at  that  time  a  professor  in  the  Collegio 
della  Sapienza  at  Rome,  in  a  work  on  Syrian  literature,* 
published  by  him  in  1828,  took  occasion  to  animadvert  on 
this  statement,  and  to  show  that  in  the  Syrian  language  there 
are  many  terms  expressive  of  signifying,  meaning,  and  de- 
noting ;  of  which  he  gives  a  variety  of  examples,  for  the 
purpose  of  obviating  Dr.  Clarke's  argument  against  the 
Romanist  view  of  transubstantiation.  The  objection  of  Dr. 
Wiseman  was  hereupon  met  by  Professor  Lee,  of  Cambridge, 
who  replied  to  it  in  his  Prolegomena  to  Bagsters'  Polyglot 
Bible.  It  is  many  years  since  I  perused  those  works ;  and, 
not  having  access  to  them  at  present,  I  cannot  state  the  pre- 
cise terms  in  which  the  argument  was  conducted ;  but  I  ad- 
vert to  the  point  just  here,  to  observe  that,  judging  from  the 
words  which  Dr.  Clarke  uses  in  the  treatise  before  me,  as 
well  as  in  his  Commentary  on  Matt,  xxvi,  the  learned  Italian 
professor  seems  to  have  launched  his  polemical  javelin 
against  an  antagonist  created  by  his  own  imagination.  Dr. 
Clarke  never  said  that  in  the  Syrian  LANGUAGE,  as  it  was 
cultivated  by  ecclesiastical  writers  ages  after  the  time  of 
our  Saviour,  there  is  no  word  which  answers  to  signify  or 
represent;  but,  as  the  reader  will  see  by  reverting  to  his 
own  words,  that  "  in  the  SCRIPTURES,  as  they  stand  in  the 
Hebrew,  Chaldee,  and  Chaldaeo-Syriac  languages,"  there  is 
no  such  term.  The  Syriac  language  after  the  apostolic  time 
received  many  accessions  of  terms  and  words,  which  at  that 
time  were  unknown  in  it. 

Returning  for  a  moment  to  the  treatise  on  the  Eucharist, 
we  may  deferentially  remark,  that  the  chief  defect  we  dis- 
cover in  this  substantial  and  profitable  discourse  is,  that, 
while  the  Doctor  gives  great  prominence  to  the  Holy  Sup- 

*  Horce  Syriacce:  seu  Commentatio-nes  et  Anecdota  Res  vel  Litttras 
Syriacas  tpectantia,  Auctore  Nlcholato  Wiseman,  S.T.D.  Tomveprimu*. 
Itmnce,  1828. 


LIFE  OF    ADAM  CLARKE. 

per  as  a  memorial,  he  does  not  point  our  attention  suffi- 
ciently to  its  sacramental  character  as  a  sign  and  seal  of  the 
promises  of  God's  covenant  in  Christ ;  nor  is  he  sufficiently 
explicit  on  the  efficacy  of  the  solemn  rite  as  a  means  of 
grace.  Neither  can  we  be  satisfied  with  the  restricted  sense 
he  gives  to  the  term  "  sacrament,"  as  denoting  an  oath  of 
fidelity.  In  the  Vulgate  New  Testament  the  Latin  word 
sacramentum  answers  to  the  Greek  pvorripiov,  "  a  mystery," 
something  vailed  under  an  emblematic  form ;  and  the  sense 
in  which  the  apostles  employed  the  latter  term  ought  to  be 
taken  into  account  in  defining  the  meaning  of  the  former. 
Thus  St.  Paul,  speaking  of  the  marriage-bond,  says  that, 
representing  as  it  does  the  union  between  Christ  and  the 
Church,  it  is  pvorripiov  fieya,  "  a  great  mystery ;"  which 
the  Vulgate  renders  sacramentum  magnum.  So,  in  Rev. 
i,  20,  "  the  mystery  of  the  seven  stars  "  is  in  the  Vulgate  "  the 
sacrament  of  the  seven  stars."  The  Syrians  use  the  word 
roza  in  the  same  passages,  and  apply  that  term  also  to  the 
ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  In  all  these  cases  it  is  very 
plain  that  the  Roman  military  oath  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  matter.  Nevertheless  Dr.  Clarke's  work  on  the  blessed 
Eucharist  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  English  or  any  other 
language ;  and  it  would  be  a  cause  of  thankfulness  if  the 
Methodist  literature  were  enriched  by  a  treatise  equally 
good  on  the  other  sacrament  of  baptism. 

Several  minor  pieces  were  communicated  from  time  to 
time  by  Dr.  Clarke  to  various  periodicals,  of  which  we  re- 
gret to  be  only  able  to  afford  room  for  the  titles.  Several 
of  them  are  of  an  antiquarian  character ;  such  as :  1.  An 
Attempt  to  explain  an  Inscription  on  what  is  called  Arthur's 
Tomb-stone,  near  Cam  el  ford.  2.  A  short  Description  of 
three  Round  Towers  in  Ireland.  3.  An  Account  of  three 
remarkable  Crosses  at  Munsterboyce,  in  Ireland.  4.  An 
Account  of  Mount  Rough-tor,  with  its  Druidical  Monuments. 
5.  A  Dissertation  on  Diplomas  and  Diptychs.  6.  On  the 
Poem  of  "King  Hart,"  by  Gawin  Douglas.  7.  On  the 
Bow  of  Ulysses.  8.  On  a  Bourbonnese  Inscription. 


THE  AUTHOR.  335 

Others  refer  to  the  phenomena  of  nature :  1.  On  Prog- 
nostications of  the  Weather.  2.  An  Account  of  an  Agri- 
cultural Experiment.  3.  An  Account  of  the  miraculous 
Growth  of  a  Woman's  Hair.  4.  Extraordinary  Sagacity  of 
a  Dog.  5.  On  some  medical  Cases  in  the  Philadelphia 
Medical  Museum. 

Another  class  consists  of  dissertations  and  fragments  on 
Biblical  subjects:  1.  On  the  Genealogy  of  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  Critical  Remarks  on  the  Thirty -second  Chapter  of  Exodus. 

3.  An   Introduction  to  Fisher's  "Grand  Folio  Bible,"  (a 
masterly  essay).     4.  A  Preface  to  the  Book  of  Psalms. 
5.  On   the   Words,   Anathema  Maranatha.     6.  Directions 
for  Reading  the  Bible. 

And  another,  of  papers  on  ecclesiastical  subjects:  1.  On 
the  Creed  of  the  Abyssinians.  2.  Translation  of  the  Liturgy 
of  Dioscorus.  3.  On  Kneeling  in  Worship.  4.  A  Letter 
of  Counsel  to  a  Preacher.  5.  On  the  Methodist  Chapels 
and  Trustees. 

The  next  class  are  polemical:  1.  A  Reply  to  various 
Critiques  on  Dr.  Clarke's  Bible.  2.  On  a  Pamphlet  enti- 
tled, "  A  Vindication  of  the  Hindoos."  3.  Remarks  on  a 
Criticism  in  the  Christian  Observer.  4.  Another  Letter  to 
the  Same.  5.  A  Letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Monthly 
Magazine. 

All  these,  along  with  a  translation  of  the  History  of  St. 
Leucio,  an  establishment  near  Naples,  founded  as  an  experi- 
ment in  social  economy  by  the  late  king  Ferdinand,  are 
found  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  volumes  of  his  collected 
Works. 

The  remaining  class  are  biographical — six  notices  of  emi- 
nent Christians,  among  whom  are  his  early  friend  Coleman, 
and  his  revered  colleague  Mr.  Pawson. 

In  coming  to  the  next  considerable  book,  the  "  Memoirs 
of  the  Wesley  Family,"  it  should  be  observed  that  Dr. 
Clarke  had  long  entertained  the  idea  of  writing  a  biography 
of  the  founder  of  Methodism  himself;  of  whom,  with  an  al- 
most boundless  veneration,  he  was  wont  to  say,  that  "  as  a 


336  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

scholar,  poet,  logician,  critic,  philosopher,  politician,  legis- 
lator, divine,  public  teacher,  and  deeply  pious  and  exten- 
sively useful  man,  he  had  no  superior,  and  few,  if  any 
equals ;"  and  that  justice  can  never  be  done  him  unless  he 
be  viewed  in  all  these  characters.  At  the  Conference  of 
1820  he  was  officially  requested  to  write  Mr.  Wesley's  life. 
The  widely  read  memoir  by  the  poet-laureate  was  then 
making  a  great  impression  on  the  public  mind  ;  and  a  num- 
ber of  influential  persons  who  dissented  from  the  worldly- 
minded  and  sinister  views  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Wesley 
presented  in  that  biography,  urged  him  by  earnest  solicita- 
tions to  acquiesce  in  the  request.  Among  these,  Mr. 
Butterworth  offered  him  £500  for  the  copyright.  Nor  was 
Dr.  Clarke  averse  from  the  task,  but  greatly  inclined  to 
undertake  it.  He  had,  indeed,  a  feeling,  produced  by  some 
incidents  in  conversation  with  him  while  living,  that  such  a 
thing  would  have  been  agreeable  to  Mr.  Wesley  himself; 
and  he  had  been  for  years  accumulating  materials  which 
would  be  highly  effective  in  the  construction  of  an  authentic 
life  of  that  servant  of  God. 

Yet  this  project,  through  certain  unpropitious  hindrances, 
came  to  nothing ;  or  rather,  we  should  say,  it  issued  not  in 
a  life  of  the  founder  of  Methodism,  but  in  a  memoir  of  the 
family  from  which  he  sprang.  The  Rev.  Henry  Moore  de- 
clined to  confide  to  his  use  certain  papers  which  he  had  in 
possession  as  one  of  the  trustees  of  Mr.  Wesley's  literary 
property.  Upon  this  Dr.  Clarke  offered  him  all  his  own 
collections,  provided  he  would  undertake  the  memoir  him- 
self. But  this,  too,  was  at  that  time  declined.  The  result 
has  just  been  stated. 

This  work,  written,  we  may  truly  say,  con  amore,  and  in 
the  short  space  of  four  months,  was  published  in  1823.  The 
copyright  of  the  first  edition  was  presented  by  the  author 
to  the  Methodist  Book-room,  for  which  he  received  the  most 
cordial  thanks  of  the  Conference.  It  was  subsequently  re- 
printed, with  a  large  accession  of  matter,  in  two  volumes. 
In  addition  to  his  own  collection,  ample  materials  had  been 


THE  AUTHOR.  337 

supplied  him  by  Miss  Sarah  Wesley  and  other  friends,  in- 
cluding Miss  Sharp,  from  whom  he  received  some  import- 
ant letters  out  of  the  correspondence  of  her  grandfather,  the 
archbishop  of  York,  which  threw  much  light  on  the  early 
history  of  Mr.  Wesley's  father,  the  rector  of  Epworth. 
That  indefatigable  Methodist  antiquarian,  the  late  Thomas 
Marriott,  Esq.,  also  freely  opened  his  treasures  for  the 
doctor's  use.  From  all  these  sources  he  has  been  able  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  a  family  remarkable  alike  for 
their  genius,  their  exemplary  piety,  and  their  relation  to  a 
revival  of  apostolic  religion,  the  influences  and  effects  of 
which  strengthen  with  the  years  of  time,  and  widen  in  their 
range  of  action  on  the  nations  of  the  world  at  large. 

The  next  publication  to  be  mentioned  is  a  useful  tractate, 
the  design  of  which  is  best  described  in  the  ample  terms  of 
the  title-page;  namely,  the  "Clavis  Blblica ;  or,  a  Com- 
pendium of  Scriptural  Knowledge,  containing  a  general 
View  of  the  Contents  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  ;  the 
Principles  of  Christianity  derived  from  them,  and  the  Rea- 
sons on  which  they  are  founded ;  with  Directions  how  to 
read  most  profitably  the  Holy  Bible.  Originally  drawn  up 
for  the  Instruction  of  two  Teerunanxies  or  High  Priests  of 
Buddhoo  from  the  Island  of  Ceylon."  Of  these  Indian 
priests  we  will  give  an  account  further  on.  The  little  vol- 
ume now  before  us  (which  is  dedicated  to  the  Rev.  Jabez 
Bunting,  M.A.,  President  of  the  Conference  for  1820,  and  to 
the  Secretaries,  Treasurers,  and  Committee  of  the  Wesleyan 
Missionary  Society)  recites  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  interesting  strangers  had  been  confided  to  the  writer's 
care,  and  is  accompanied  with  an  affectionate  and  fatherly 
letter,  replete  with  wise  counsel,  and  a  most  suitable  intro- 
duction to  the  book  he  had  written  for  their  learning.  The 
work  itself  is  admirably  suited  to  the  instruction  of  cate- 
chumens, and  young  persons  in  general. 

Dr.  Clarke  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life  wrote  a  number 
of  homiletic  discourses,  not  so  much  for  his  own  use  in  the 
pulpit,  as  for  publication  through  the  medium  of  the  press. 

22 


338  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

In  his  collected  Works  they  are  comprised  in  four  volumes, 
and  thrown  together  in  a  miscellaneous  manner.  For  the 
sake  of  method  and  brevity,  I  will  arrange  them  under  their 
proper  heads. 

I.  THEOLOGICAL.     1.  On  the  Existence  and  Attributes  of 
God.  (Jer.  x,  11.)     2.  The  Being  and  Providence  of  God. 
(Heb.  xi,  6.)     3.  St.  Paul's  Metaphysics ;  or,  the  Invisible 
made  known  by  the  Visible.     4.  The  Doctrine  of  Provi- 
dence.    5.  The  different  Methods  which  God  has  used  to 
bring  Men  to  the  Knowledge  of  Himself.     6.  Divine  Re- 
velation.    7.   Worship.     8.   The  Love  of  God  to  a  Lost 
World.      9.  His  Willingness  to  save  all  Men.     10.  The 
Plan  of  human  Redemption.     11.  The  Love  of  God  to 
Man.     12.  The  Necessity  of  Christ's  Atonement.     13.  The 
God  of  all  Grace.     14.  The  Gift  of  a  Saviour  the  Fulfillment 
of  Prophecy.     15.  God's  Love  in  Christ  considered  in  its 
Objects,    Freeness,   and    Results.      16.    The   Miracles    of 
Christ  a  Proof  of  his  Divinity.     17.  The  Gospel  a  Pro- 
clamation  of  Life    and    Immortality.     18.  Life  the   Gift 
of  the    Gospel,   the    Law    the    Ministration    of    Death. 
19.  Life,  Death,  and  Immortality.    20.  The  Corruption  of  the 
World.     21.  The  condescending  Entreaty  of  God  to  Sinners. 
22.  Repentance.     23.  Salvation  by  Faith.     24.  Holiness. 
25.  The  true  Circumcision.    26.  Christ  crucified,  a  Stumbling- 
block  to  the  Jews,  and  Foolishness  to  the  Greeks.     27.  The 
Design  of  Jewish  Sacrifices  ;  that  of  Christ  the  only  Atone- 
ment.    28.  The  Gospel  of  Christ  the  Power  of  God  unto 
Salvation.     29.  The  Glory  of  the  Latter  Days. 

II.  EXPERIMENTAL.     1 .  True  Happiness,  and  the  Way  to 
attain  it.     2.  Genuine  Happiness  the  Privilege  of  the  Chris- 
tian in  this  Life.     3.  The  Confidence  of  the  true  Christian. 
4.  Experimental  Religion  and  its  Fruits.     5.  The  Hope  of 
the  Gospel  through  the  Resurrection  of  Christ.      6.   The 
Operations  of  Providence  and  Grace  calculated  to  inspire 
Confidence  and  Gratitude.     7.  St.  Peter's  Character  of  the 
Dispersed   among  the  Gentiles,   and    his   Prayer  for    the 
Church  of  God.      8.   Confidence  in  God,  and  its  Reward. 


THE  AUTHOR.  339 

9.  Probation  and  Temptation.  10.  Promises  to  the  Man 
who  has  set  his  Love  upon  God.  11.  Acquaintance  with 
God,  and  the  Benefits  which  result  from  it.  12.  The  Fam- 
ily of  God  and  its  Privileges. 

III.  ETHICAL.     1.  On  the  Decalogue.      2.  The  Wisdom 
that  is  from  above.     3.  Love  to  God  and  Man  the  Fulfilling 
of  the  Law.     4.  The  Lord's  Prayer.      5.  The  Prayer  of 
Agur.      6.    The    Traveler's  Prayer;    a  Discourse   on  the 
third  Collect,  for  Grace.     7.  Christian  Moderation.     8.  The 
Christian  Race.     9.  The  Origin  and  End  of  Civil  Govern- 
ment.    10.  The  rights  of  God  and  Caesar. 

IV.  Relating  to  the  CHRISTIAN  MINISTRY.     1.  The  high 
Commission.      2.  Apostolic  Preaching.      3.  The  Christian 
Prophet  and  his  Work.     4.  The  Wise  Man's  Counsels  to 
his  Pupil :    or,  the  true  Method  of  giving,  receiving,  and 
profiting  by  Religious  Instruction.     5.  Characteristic  Affec- 
tion and  prime  Objects  of  the  Christian  Ministry. 

V.  MISCELLANEOUS.     1.  The  Rich  Man  and  the  Beggar. 
2.  Nebuchadnezzar's  Dream.     3.  Two  important  Questions 
answered.  (Psalm  xv,  J-5.)     4.  Death  unavoidable. 

The  topics  of  these  discourses,  it  will  be  perceived,  are  of 
the  weightiest  moment ;  and  they  are  discussed  with  a  cor- 
respondent seriousness  and  gravity,  with  a  breadth  of  inves- 
tigation, a  force  of  argument,  and  a  fidelity  of  application, 
which  will  insure  them  a  high  and  permanent  place  in  the 
homiletic  literature  of  our  country.  As  to  the  graces  of 
composition  many  of  them  are  far  from  being  finished  in 
style.  Designedly  unadorned,  their  very  simplicity  gives 
them  a  characteristic  strength.  The  truth  is  made  known 
in  deep  and  well-defined  outlines  ;  not  in  highly  enameled 
pictures,  but  in  cartoons  struck  off  by  the  bold  hand  of  a 
master. 

This  is  all  that  we  have  room  to  offer  on  the  Miscellaneous 
Works  of  Dr.  Clarke ;  but  there  are  yet  three  peculiar 
phases  of  his  literary  life,  which  we  must  take  next  in 
review. 


34:0  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   LITERARY    SERVANT   OF   THE   STATE. 

IT  was  about  the  year  1808  that  the  attention  of  the  House 
of  Commons  was  directed  to  the  condition  of  the  Public 
Records.  The  principal  archives  of  the  more  remote  reigns 
of  the  English  kings  had  been,  a  hundred  years  before,  col- 
lected and  embodied  in  a  series  of  twenty  folios,  under  the 
title  of  FCEDERA,  Conventiones,  et  cujuscunque  Generis  Acta 
publica,  inter  Regis  Anglice  et  alios  Principes*  Fourteen 
of  these  were  edited  by  Thomas  Rymer,  an  eminent  anti- 
quary who  held  the  office  of  Royal  Historiographer,  and 
who  died  in  1713;  the  remaining  six,  by  Robert  Sander- 
son, his  assistant,  afterward  Keeper  of  the  Rolls.  Since 
that  time  there  had  been  a  large  accumulation  of  public 
documents,  which  were  lying  in  confusion  in  various  reposi- 
tories, together  with  a  number  of  valuable  papers  not  in- 
corporated in  the  Fcedera.  Rymer  left  a  collection  of  state 
papers  in  no  less  than  fifty-nine  volumes  folio,  which,  after 
his  death  were  taken  into  the  possession  of  the  government. 
To  have  these  multitudinous  documents  arranged,  in  contin- 
uation of  that  great  work,  was  felt  to  be  a  duty  to  the 
country ;  and  a  commission  was  appointed  to  take  the 
measures  proper  for  its  accomplishment.  One  preliminary 
was  the  appointment  of  a  suitable  editor;  and  it  will  serve 
to  give  an  idea  of  tho  high  estimate  which  had  been  already 
formed  of  Adam  Clarke,  to  state  that  he  was  the  man  to 
whom  the  government  and  senate  of  England  made  their 
application.  Our  surest  method  will  be  to  give  a  statement 

*  Another  edition  was  published  at  the  Hague,  in  1739,  in  ten  volumes 
folio. 


THE  LITERARY  SERVANT  OF  THE  STATE.      341 

of  this  transaction  from  a  memorandum  in  the  Doctor's 
own  handwriting. 

"Some  time  in  February,  1808, 1  learned  that  I  had  been 
recommended  to  His  Majesty's  commissioners  of  the  public 
records,  by  the  Right  Hon.  Charles  Abbott,  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  one  of  the  commissioners,  (to 
whom  I  was  known  only  by  some  of  my  writings  on  bibli- 
ography,) as  a  fit  person  to  undertake  the  department  of 
collecting  and  arranging  those  state  papers  which  might 
serve  to  complete  and  continue  Rymer's  Foedera.  .  .  .  John 
Caley,  Esq.,  secretary  to  the  commission,  was  appointed  to 
see  me.  .  .  .  He  called  on  Mr.  Butterworth,  and  desired  an 
introduction  to  me  on  the  following  Thursday.  ...  I  attended 
the  appointment,  and  was  introduced  to  him  in  Mr.  B.'s  study. 

"  After  the  usual  compliments,  Mr.  Caley  said  :  '  Mr. 
Clarke,  I  am  desired  to  call  on  you  to  know  whether  you 
would  be  willing  to  undertake  a  work  hi  which  His  Majes- 
ty's government  would  wish  to  employ  you  ?'  A.  C.  Pray 
what  is  it  in  which  His  Majesty's  government  could  employ 
so  obscure  an  individual  as  myself1?'  Mr.  C.  Sir,  I  am  not 
at  liberty  to  specify  it  at  present.  A.  C.  Then,  sir,  I  can 
give  no  answer,  because  I  know  not  whether  I  have  the  requi- 
site qualifications  for  the  work.  Mr.  C.  Sir,  those  who 
have  sent  me  have  no  doubt  of  your  qualifications.  The 
work  is  confidential ;  but  I  can  say  no  more  at  present  than 
that  it  requires  the  habits  of  a  Christian,  a  scholar,  and  a  gen- 
tleman. A.  C.  Why,  sir,  I  may  very  reasonably  doubt 
whether  I  have  any  of  these  qualifications  in  an  adequate  de- 
gree ;  all  lean  say  is,  if  there  be  any  way  in  which,  in  addi- 
tion to  my  present  sacred  duties,  I  can  serve  my  king  and 
country,  it  must  be  my  duty  to  embrace  it.  But  as  I  know 
not  the  nature  of  the  work,  nor  the  abilities  and  time  it  may 
require,  I  cannot  give  any  particular  answer.  Mr.  C.  Mr. 
Clarke,  your  answer  is  sufficient.  I  shall  report  it,  and  you 
may  expect  to  hear  from  me  shortly. 

"  Within  a  few  days  I  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Caley, 
wishing  me  to  call  upon  him.  I  did  so,  and  was  then  in- 


342  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

formed  what  the  work  was — a  supplement  and  continuation 
ofRymer;  and  that  His  Majesty's  commissioners  had  de- 
sired me  to  draw  up  an  Essay  on  that  work.  I  was  struck 
with  surprise,  and  endeavored  to  excuse  myself  on  the 
ground  of  general  unfitness.  ...  At  this  the  secretary 
smiled  and  said :  '  Mr.  Clarke,  you  will  have  the  goodness 
to  try  ;  and  meanwhile,  pray,  draw  up  the  paper  which  the 
commissioners  require,  and  I  am  always  ready  to  give  you 
any  assistance  in  my  power.'  " 

He  felt  on  consideration  strongly  inclined  to  consent. 
But  previously  "  I  laid,"  says  he,  "  the  whole  business  be- 
fore the  committee  of  preachers  at  City-road,  and  begged 
their  advice.  Some  said,  '  It  will  prevent  your  going  on  in 
the  work  of  the  ministry ;'  others,  '  It  is  a  trick  of  the  devil 
to  prevent  your  usefulness.  Others,  '  It  may  rather  be  a 
call  of  Divine  Providence  to  greater  usefulness  than  for- 
merly ;  and,  seeing  you  compromise  nothing  by  it,  and  may 
still  preach  as  usual,  accept  it  in  God's  name.'  Others,  '  If 
Mr.  Wesley  were  alive,  he  would  consider  it  a  call  of  God 
to  you  ;  and  so  close  in  with  it  without  hesitation.'  "  He 
did  so,  but  he  adds,  "  with  the  positive  understanding  that  I 
would  only  consider  myself  a  locum  tenens  till  they  could 
procure  another." 

His  first  task  was  to  produce  a  report  of  the  nature,  num- 
ber, and  localities  of  the  materials  which  were  to  form  the 
new  Supplement  to  the  Foedera.  It  was  to  take  the  form 
of  "  An  Essay  on  the  best  Mode  of  carrying  into  Effect  a 
Compilation  from  unedited  and  latent  Records,  to  form  a 
Supplement,"  etc. ;  and,  as  he  writes  in  a  letter  to  his  friend 
Mr.  Roberts,  "  was  to  be  prepared  in  fourteen  days.  .  .  . 
These  records  were  to  be  found  in,  1.  The  British  Mu- 
seum. 2.  The  Tower.  3.  The  Chapter  House,  Westminster. 
4.  The  Rolls  Chapel.  5.  The  State-Paper  Office.  6.  The 
Privy  Council  Office.  7.  The  Signet  Office.  .  .  .  Write  I 
must.  .  .  .  Well,  I  thought,  for  the  honor  of  my  God,  and 
for  the  credit  of  my  people,  I  will  put  my  shoulder  to  a 
wheel  deeply  stuck  in  the  mud,  and  raise  it  if  I  can.  To  do 


THE   LITERARY  SERVANT  OF  THE  STATE.      343 

anything  with  effect,  I  must  examine  sixty  folio  volumes, 
with  numerous  collateral  evidences,  and  write  on  a  subject, 
'  Diplomatics,'  on  which  I  had  never  tried  my  pen,  and  in 
circumstances,  too,  the  most  unfriendly,  as  I  was  employed 
in  the  visitation  of  the  classes  during  the  whole  time.  I 
thought,  prayed,  read ;  like  John  Bunyan,  '  I  pulled,  and,  as 
I  pulled,  it  came.' " 

The  Essay,  thus  required,  he  was  enabled  to  furnish  with 
an  incredible  activity ;  and,  to  quote  the  words  of  the  official 
minute,  "  At  a  Board  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  by 
his  Majesty  on  the  Public  Records  of  the  Kingdom,  holden 
Friday,  25  March,  1808 — Present,  the  Rt.  Hon.  C.  Abbott, 
Lord  F.  Campbell,  Lord  Redesdale,  Lord  Glenverbie,  the 
Bishop  of  Bangor,  etc.,  the  secretary  stated  that  Adam 
Clarke,  LL.D.,  having  been  recommended  on  account  of  his 
extensive  learning,  and  indefatigable  industry,  as  a  fit  per- 
son* to  revise  and  form  a  Supplement  to  Rymer's  Fcedera, 
had  prepared  an  '  Essay  on  the  best  Mode  of  executing  such 
an  Undertaking ;'  which  report  the  secretary  delivered  in, 
and  the  same  was  now  read." 

In  this  elaborate  dissertation  he  gives  a  short  history 
of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  Fcedera,  examines  the 
comparative  merits  of  the  different  editions  through 
which  it  had  passed ;  considers  the  materials  of  which  it 
is  composed,  and  how  far  they  accord  with  the  original 
design:  then  takes  into  view  the  projected  Supplement; 
considers  the  nature  of  the  proper  materials,  and  the 
repositories  where  they  could  be  found;  and  finally  points 
out  the  best  mode  by  which  they  might  be  selected,  ar- 
ranged, and  edited. 

Upon  the  presentation  of  the  report,  the  board  "or- 
dered that  the  secretary  do  obtain  admission  for  Dr. 
Clarke  to  make  searches  in  the  several  public  offices, 

*  "At  the  same  time,"  when  the  report  was  forwarded  to  the  secretary, 
"  I  sent  them  word  that  I  was  an  itinerant  preacher  among  the  people 
called  Methodists,  lately  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  John  Wesley, 
deceased." 


344  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

libraries,  and  repositories,  which  it  may  be  necessary  fur 
him  to  consult." 

Furnished  with  this  authority,  and  appointed  also  a  sub- 
commissioner,  he  applied  himself  with  assiduity  to  the  work 
before  him.  In  May,  the  following  year,  the  secretary  stated 
to  the  board  that  Dr.  Clarke  had  been  diligently  employed 
in  collecting  materials  ;  when  it  was  ordered  that  he  be  de- 
sired to  lay  before  them  a  further  report;  which  was  accord- 
ingly prepared,  and  followed,  in  January,  1810,  by  a  third, 
'which  turned  especially  on  the  structure  of  Rymer's  work, 
and  on  the  use  which  he  made  of  our  ancient  English  histo- 
rians. In  the  course  of  this  disquisition  Dr.  Clarke  impugns 
the  authenticity  of  the  celebrated  letter  of"  Vetus  de  Monte? 
the  Elder  of  the  Mountain,*  to  Leopold,  duke  of  Austria, 
exculpating  king  Richard  for  the  murder  of  the  Marquis  of 
Montferrat.  He  considers  the  letter  to  be  a  forgery  of 
Longchamp,  Bishop  of  Ely,  and,  as  such,  unworthy  of  a 
place  in  the  Foedera. 

A  minute  of  the  board  in  March  states  that,  having  con- 
sidered Dr.  Clarke's  several  reports,  they  are  of  opinion 
"  that  the  work  will  be  best  executed  by  a  consolidation  of 
all  the  old  and  new  materials  in  a  chronological  series,  with 
indexes,  analytical  and  alphabetical,  according  to  the  plan 
laid  down  in  the  said  reports ;  a>nd  order  that  Dr.  Clarke 
do  forthwith  prepare  materials  for  a  first  volume  of  a  new 
edition  of  Rymer  according  to  the  said  plan,  and  be  desired 
to  propose  a  plan  for  carrying  on  the  continuation  concur- 
rently." 

In  this  new  edition  the  various  supplements  were  to  be 
embodied  chronologically,  and  the  whole  material  so  ar- 
ranged and  fixed  that  the  Fcedera  should  be  a  permanent 
standard. 

Dr.  Clarke's  labors  in  this  public  undertaking  extended 

through  a  period  of  nearly  ten  years,  in  the  course  of  which 

he  spent  many  a  toilsome  day  among  the  antiquated  records 

in  the  Tower,  the  Chapter-House,  and  the  Cottonian,  Har- 

*  The  Shcekh  ul  jcbel,  or  chief  of  the  llassanians  in  Mount  Lebanon. 


THE  LITERARY  SERVANT  OF  THE  STATE.      345 

leian,  Lansdown,  and  Sloane  collections  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, as  well  as  at  the  State  Paper  Office  and  the  Rolls 
Chapel.  The  same  work  called  him  to  take  frequent  jour- 
neys to  the  provincial  repositories  of  such  documents,  in  the 
archives  of  various  cathedrals,  the  Bodleian  at  Oxford,  and 
the  libraries  of  Corpus  Christ!  and  other  Colleges  at  Cam- 
bridge ;  and  in  Dublin,  at  Christ  Church,  and  the  library  of 
Trinity  College.  He  found  in  general  every  facility  from 
the  local  authorities,  and  at  the  British  Museum  was  fur- 
nished with  a  room  which  he  could  call  his  own  apartment. 
Associated  with  him,  as  assistants,  at  different  times,  were 
Messrs.  Holbrooke  and  Janion,  Dr.  Steinhauer,  and  his  son, 
Mr.  J.  W.  Clarke. 

In  the  preceding  chapters  we  have  had  frequent  occasion 
to  notice  journeys  taken  by  him  for  the  prosecution  of 
this  work.*  A  recurrence  to  these  will  show  that  most  of 
them  were  connected  with  evangelical  labors  as  well.  This 
combination,  as  we  have  seen,  was  at  times  most  oppressive 
and  wasting  in  its  effects  on  Dr.  Clarke's  strength  and  health. 
He  made  repeated  overtures  to  the  government-commission 
to  be  absolved  from  further  service,  but  did  not  find  a  re- 
lease till  the  year  1819,  when  his  constitution  was  so  broken 
down  as  to  compel  him  to  be  decisive  in  renouncing  it.  The 
board,  though  they  had  refused  before,  now  accepted  his  re- 

*  One  of  his  letters  from  Oxford  contains  the  following  passage.  He 
had  been  introduced  by  Professor  Gaisford  to  some  of  the  society  at 
Christ  Church,  and  had  partaken  of  their  polite  hospitality.  In  another 
part  of  the  letter  he  resumes :  "At  12  o'clock  at  the  Bodleian.  The  Greek 
professor,  who  is  the  curator  of  the  library,  met  us,  and  with  him  the  sub- 
librarian, the  Eev.  Mr.  Bandinell.  [The  Rev.  Dr.  Bandinell,  the  present 
curator.]  I  explained  to  him  our  object ;  he  brought  immediately  to  hand 
the  things  we  needed,  and  appointed  a  noble  room  to  ourselves,  where 
the  MSS.  and  Editiones  Pfincipet  of  the  classics  are  kept.  Having  got 
MS.  copies  of  the  JBoldon-JSook,  which  we  have  to  collate  with  a  transcript 
made  by  Mr.  Ellis  from  a  copy  in  the  cathedral  of  Durham,  we  began  our 
work,  and  wrought  till  three.  We  have  six  hours  a  day  for  work.  .  .  . 
The  bed  and  sitting-room  which  I  now  occupy  were  formerly  the  apart- 
ments of  Dr.  John  Uri,  a  very  learned  Orientalist,  who  was  the  preceptor 
of  the  present  Arabic  professor,  Dr.  White.  In  this  house  he  lived  for 
twenty-five  years;  and  here  he  died,  in  1796." 


346  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

signation ;  on  which  occasion  the  late  Speaker,  the  Lord 
Colchester,  addressed  to  him  a  kind  letter,  in  which  he  says : 
"  I  will  not  lose  a  day  in  assuring  you  that  you  have,  and 
ever  had,  through  your  long  and  successful  labors  under  the 
Record  Commission,  my  entire  confidence  and  approbation." 
In  finishing  his  connection  with  this  national  work,  which  he 
truly  calls  "  a  proud  monument  to  the  glory  of  the  British 
nation,  and  to  the  enlarged  views  and  munificence  of  those 
sovereigns  under  whose  auspices  it  was  projected,"  the  doc- 
tor gives  expression  to  his  devout  gratitude  in  the  following 
words :  "  I  register  my  thanks  to  God,  the  Fountain  of  wis- 
dom and  goodness,  who  has  enabled  me  to  conduct  this 
most  difficult  and  delicate  work  for  ten  years,  with  credit  to 
myself  and  satisfaction  to  his  Majesty's  government.  .  .  . 
To  God  only  wise  be  glory  and  dominion,  by  Christ  Jesus, 
for  ever  and  ever.  Amen." 

The  studies  connected  with  the  discharge  of  these  official 
duties  gave  Dr.  Clarke  a  more  thorough  insight  into  English 
history  than  was  possessed  by  some  men  who  have  become 
famous  as  historians.  Compared  with  his  attainments  in 
this  kind  of  knowledge,  those  of  Hume,  for  example,  were 
but  superficial.  That  elegant  but  plausible  writer  had,  as 
Dr.  Clarke  learned,  the  privilege  of  consulting  the  Records, 
but  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  avail  himself  of  it.  A  man 
of  genius,  it  seems,  can  write  history  without  much  research : 
like  M.  Vertot,  who  finished  his  narrative  of  the  siege  of 
Malta  before  getting  the  authentic  documents ;  and  when 
they  arrived,  threw  them  on  the  sofa  behind  him,  with,  "  My 
siege  is  done." 

Dr.  Clarke's  researches  tended  to  confirm  him  in  those 
liberal  yet  constitutional  principles  which  formed  his  politi- 
cal creed  from  first  to  last.  He  was  what  is  called  a  mod- 
erate Whig.  "  Honor  all  men — honor  the  king ;"  Dr. 
Clarke  did  both.  He  loved  the  British  constitution,  recog- 
nizing its  practical  and  expansive  capabilities  for  the  exer- 
cise of  those  harmonious  duties.  "The  constitution  is 
good,"  says  he;  "it  is  the  best  under  the  sun;  it  can 


THE  LITERARY  SERVANT  OF  THE   STATE.        347 

scarcely  be  mended.  The  executive  government  may  in 
particular  cases  adopt  bad  measures,  and  therefore  should 
not  be  vindicated  in  those  things ;  yet,  in  general,  the  exec- 
utive government  must  be  supported ;  because,  if  it  be  not, 
down  goes  the  constitution,  and  up  rise  anarchy  and  every 
possible  evil." 


348  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   COADJUTOR   OF   THE    BIBLE   SOCIETY. 

THE  rise  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was 
one  of  the  signs  which,  at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  inaugurated  a  new  era  in  the  religious  history  of 
the  world.  Till  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  brought 
under  the  influence  of  a  direct  revelation  from  God,  they 
will  never  be  renewed.  No  words,  then,  can  tell  the  gran- 
deur of  the  thought  which  at  that  time  began  more  fully  to 
move  the  minds  of  British  Christians,  TO  GIVE  THE  WORLD 
THE  BIBLE,  or  express  the  solemn  gratitude  which  the  true 
philanthropist  must  feel  in  reviewing  the  successes  which 
have  attended  the  blessed  enterprise,  through  which,  by  per- 
severing toil,  and  not  a  little  sacrifice,  "by  the  patience  of 
hope  and  the  labor  of  love,"  millions  and  millions  in  many 
lands  and  tongues  have  read  and  heard  the  words  that  are 
spirit  and  life.  All  honor  to  the  jnen  who,  so  few  in  num- 
ber, and  so  feeble  in  resources,  arose  to  do  this  work,  and 
unvail  the  fair  aspect  of  truth  for  the  eyes  of  all  humanity ! 

In  this  most  beneficent  undertaking  Dr.  Adam  Clarke 
had  the  honor  of  taking  a  conspicuous  part.  Mr.  Butter- 
worth,  who  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Society,  soon 
enlisted  his  brother-in-law  in  a  work  for  which  his  whole 
heart  was  predisposed,  and  for  which  his  Biblical  knowledge 
and  evangelic  zeal  so  eminently  qualified  him.  The  com- 
mittee, as  soon  as  they  commenced  active  measures  for 
printing  the  various  Oriental  versions  of  the  Scriptures, 
found  in  him  the  very  man  they  needed.  As  we  are  now 
looking  at  the  aspects  of  his  literary  life,  it  is  only  in  this 
point  of  view  that  our  limits  will  allow  us  to  consider  his 
relations  to  the  Society.  Dr.  Clarke,  then,  was,  as  we  may 


THE  COADJUTOR  OF  THE  BIBLE  SOCIETY.        349 

say,  the  standing  counsel  of  the  committee  in  that  depart- 
ment ;  and  the  papers  which  in  that  capacity  he  communi- 
cated to  them  not  only  show  the  sound  advice  and  practical 
help  he  was  enabled  to  give,  but  embody  some  essays  on 
the  Eastern  translations  of  the  Bible  which  deserves  an  end- 
less permanence.  These  papers,  which  are  too  long  for 
insertion  here,  may  be  found  in  the  second  volume  of  the 
family  Life  of  Dr.  Clarke,  edited  by  his  son  and  daughter ; 
and  in  the  event  of  a  new  edition  of  the  Doctor's  Works, 
they  should  be  incorporated  in  it.  He  not  only  gave  these 
important  advices  vivd  voce  in  the  committee  meetings,  of 
which  he  was  a  punctual  attendant,  and  in  the  written 
instructions  now  referred  to,  but  he  superintended,  as  well, 
the  preparation  of  the  Oriental  types.  With  a  lively  sense 
of  the  zeal  with  which  he  carried  these  aids  into  prosperous 
effect,  the  committee  desired  to  give  him  some  token  of  their 
esteem.  To  use  the  words  of  their  historian,  Mr.  Owen: 
"  For  the  eminent  services  which  had  cost  Mr.  Clarke  no 
ordinary  sacrifice  of  time  and  labor,  they  requested  permis- 
sion to  present  him  with  fifty  pounds ;  an  offering  which 
that  learned  and  public-spirited  individual  respectfully  but 
peremptorily  declined  to  accept.  Gratuitous  exertions  in 
the  cause  of  the  Society,  and  refusals  to  accept  pecuniary 
returns,  have  abounded  in  every  period  of  its  history. 
Mr.  Adam  Clarke  is,  however,  not  to  be  classed  with  ordi- 
nary benefactors." 

When  Providence  removed  Dr.  Clarke  from  London,  the 
Committee  of  the  Bible  Society  felt  that  they  were  losing 
one  of  their  most  valued  helpers,  and  expressed  their  senti- 
ments in  an  official  letter  of  thanks.  But  though  he  was 
thus  taken  away  from  the  sphere  in  which  he  could  person- 
ally co-operate  with  the  committee,  his  influence  and  ser- 
vices were  at  the  command  of  the  Society  wherever  he  had 
opportunity  of  serving  the  glorious  cause  for  which  it 
exists. 

Since  those  days  the  career  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  exhibits  one  ceaseless  advance,  and  that 


350  LIFE  OF    ADAM  CLARKE. 

splendid  experiment  of  Christian  zeal  has  been  attended 
with  a  success  which  confirms  the  assurance  that  its  purpose 
will  be  accomplished  in  giving  the  word  of  God  to  the 
human  race.  Vast  as  is  the  design,  every  year  utters  more 
distinctly  the  prophecy  of  its  fulfillment.  The  astronomer, 
from  a  known  section  of  the  pathway  of  a  new  planet,  can 
describe  its  entire  orbit,  and  its  time  of  revolving,  even  to  a 
day ;  .so,  in  the  progress  this  great  institution  has  made 
within  the  last  fifty  years,  there  may  be  found  the  pledge 
that  its  destiny  will  be  carried  out,  and  even  the  elements 
that  may  serve  in  calculating  the  period  when  the  consum- 
mation shall  be  gained. 


THE  COMMENTATOR.  351 


CHAPTER  XHL 

THE     COMMENTATOR. 

DR.  CLARKE  was  one  of  a  long  succession  of  men  who, 
in  every  age  of  the  Christian  Church,  have  applied  the  best 
energies  of  their  intellect  and  heart  to  the  study  and  inter- 
pretation of  the  Scriptures  of  truth.  Eegarding  the  Holy 
Bible  as  an  authenticated  revelation  from  God  to  mankind, 
the  immutable  canon  of  their  duty,  the  Gospel  of  their 
redemption  from  sin  and  perdition,  and  the  covenant  charter 
of  their  hope  of  everlasting  life,  they  have  made  it  the 
grand  business  of  their  lives  to  lay  open  its  mines  of  wis- 
dom, for  the  edification  of  the  Church  in  her  holy  faith,  and 
the  conversion  of  the  world  to  God. 

A  volume  which  enshrines  the  thoughts  of  an  infinite 
Intelligence,  and  bears  relation  not  only  to  the  concerns  of 
human  life  in  the  remotest  past,  but  to  its  destinies  in  the 
endless  future,  may  well  awaken  the  earnest  scrutiny  of  the 
wisest  and  most  thoughtful  of  mankind.  Nor,  when  we 
consider  the  peculiar  character  of  its  contents,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances of  time,  locality,  and  language  in  which  it  was 
written,  need  we  be  surprised  that  so  much  resolute  labor 
has  been  needed  for  the  satisfactory  explication  of  many  of 
its  parts.  Let  us  rather  be  thankful  that  these  attempts 
have  been  so  well  sustained,  and  crowned  with  such  meas- 
ures of  success,  that  the  holy  Book  may  now  be  read  in  so 
many  of  the  languages  of  our  race,  and  understood  by  all 
who  arc  willing  to  be  made  wise. 

One  result  of  these  persevering  studies  has  been  to  fix 
the  principles  on  which  the  Bible  may  be  truly  expounded. 
Severe  investigation  and  careful  experiment  have  reduced 
those  principles  to  a  well  defined  system,  designated  in 


352  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

technical  phrase  the  science  of  Hermeneutics  or  Exegesis.* 
But  the  present  comparatively  satisfactory  state  of  this 
science  has  been,  like  most  other  human  attainments,  ar- 
rived at  by  slow  and  laborious  approaches. 

Though  the  written  word  of  God  had  its  public  interpreters 
in  the  Old  Testament  time,  we  have  no  monuments  of  their 
labors  except  the  version  of  the  Septuaginta,  completed 
about  140  B.C. ;  the  Aramaic  Targuin  of  Onkelos  on  the 
Pentateuch,  and  of  Yonathan  ben  Uzziel  on  the  Prophets, 
executed  somewhere  toward  the  opening  of  the  Gospel  dis- 
pensation :  the  Septuagint  being  in  general  a  grammatical 
translation  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  the  Targums  a  toler- 
ably close  paraphrase  in  the  vernacular  of  Palestine  at  that 
time.  In  these  productions  we  have,  no  doubt,  an  embodi- 
ment of  the  expository  ideas  propounded  in  the  synagogue 
by  the  Meturgemanin,  or  official  interpreters  of  the  Hebrew 
text,  who,  ever  since  the  days  of  Ezra,  had  accompanied  the 
Sabbath  readings  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets  with  such  oral 
translations  as  would  make  them  intelligible  to  the  people. 
To  these  we  may  add  the  fanciful  expositions  of  Philo,  the 
Alexandrian  Jew,  and  the  more  substantial  but  often  random 
explanations  of  Joseph  ben  Mattathja,  in  his  work  on  the 
Antiquities  of  the  Jews.  In  the  Mishna,  too,  and  subse- 
quently in  the  Talmud,  (works  which  were  elaborated  in 
the  first  five  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,)  a  multitude  of 
Biblical  texts  are  expounded  with  various  degrees  of  correct- 
ness or  absurdity.  So,  also,  in  the  books  called  Sifra,  Sifree, 
and  Mekilta,  we  have  commentaries  on  the  Pentateuch,  and 
in  the  Boraitha  of  Rabbi  Eleazor  an  exposition  of  various 
historial  portions  of  the  Old  Testament. 

But  the  first  among  the  known  Jewish  authors  who  is 
worthy  of  the  name  of  a  professed  commentator,  is  Saadya 
the  Gaon,  president  of  the  Rabbinical  College  at  Sora,  in 
Babylonia,  in  the  tenth  century.  He  translated  the  Penta- 
teuch into  Arabic  without  notes,  but  wrote  commentaries  on 

*If  Kcientiefially  distinguished,  hermeneutics  are  the  theory  of  inter- 
pretation ;  exegesis,  interpretation  in  its  practical  exercise. 


THE   COMMENTATOR.  353 

the  Psalms,  Canticles,  Job,  and  Daniel.  He  was  followed 
in  the  same  labors  by  Hai  Gaon,  in  the  same  century ;  by 
Tobia  ben  Eliezer,  Salomo  Jizhaki,  (or  Rashi,)  Abraham  ibn 
Ezra,  Moses  bar  Nachmaii,  and  Moses  ben  Maimun,  in  the 
twelfth ;  in  the  thirteenth,  by  Simeon  Haddarshan,  (the  com- 
piler of  the  Yalkut,  so  often  quoted  by  Dr.  Clarke,  a  collec- 
tion, as  the  word  means,  a  repertory,  or  thesaurus,  compris- 
ing in  a  stout  folio  the  substance  of  the  preceding  comment- 
ators,) by  Moses  and  David  Kimchi,  whose  grammatical 
scholia  are  of  great  value  in  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  Bible ; 
and  by  Levi  ben  Gershom,  or  Banola,  who  supplemented 
the  literal  exposition  of  the  text  with  suitable  moral  appli- 
cations. These,  with  Don  Isaac  Abravanel  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  are  the  principal  of  a  multitude  of  Jewish  exposi- 
tors, whose  works,  however  worthy  of  examination,  repose 
from  age  to  age  in  slumbers  but  very  rarely  disturbed.* 

Among  these  Hebrew  commentators  there  are  four  meth- 
ods of  interpretation.  Some  unfold  the  simple  or  literal 
meaning ;  others  advance  from  the  literal  to  the  allegorical, 
and  consider  the  letter  of  the  document  as  the  signature  or 
indication  of  a  higher  and  more  spiritual  teaching.  Others, 
again,  bring  to  their  aid  the  mythical  apparatus  of  the  Med- 
rashim,  and  crowd  their  pages  with  the  legends  and  sagas 
of  the  Hagadoth ;  while  a  fourth  class,  disdaining  all  these 
lower  modes  of  exegesis,  seek  the  transcendental  regions  of 
the  Kabbala. 

The  first  of  these  four  modes  of  interpretation  is  called  by 
the  Rabbins  the  Derek  Peshet,  or  simple  way  ;  the  second, 
Remez,  or  intimation,  suggestion  as  to  meaning ;  the  third, 
Derush,  or  illustrative  exposition ;  the  fourth,  Sod,  the  draw- 
ing out  of  latent  mystical  significations.  They  contract 
these  four  terms  into  a  technical  one,  composed  of  the  in- 
itials^PaRaDiSe. 

Principles  nearly  similar  are  developed  in  the  early  com- 
mentaries of  the  Christian  Church.  While  Irenaeus  adhered 
to  the  simple  method,  Origen,  Clement,  and  others  adopted 

*  See  Etheridgc's  ii  Jerusalem  and  Tiberias,"  pp.  400-422. 
23 


354  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

three  modes  of  exposition — the  grammatical,  analogical, 
and  allegorical.  The  learned  catechist  of  Alexandria  held 
that  Scripture  had  a  threefold  sense,  answering  to  the  trinal 
elements  of  human  nature :  the  grammatical,  (7(*)p&TiKd<;=- 
the  body ;  the  moral,  i/jv^/cdf^soul ;  the  mystical,  TTVSV- 
|u<mKdf=spirit.  The  excesses  of  Origen's  disciples  gave 
way  afterward  to  the  more  severe  method  of  the  Antiochian 
school,  under  Diodorus  of  Tarsus,  and  Theodore  of  Mopsu- 
ostia ;  men  who  were  too  much  disposed  to  exaggerate  on 
the  opposite  side,  and  indulge  in  a  frigid,  rationalistic  ex- 
position of  the  Scriptures :  while  Chrysostom,  Theodorct, 
Jerome,  and  Augustine  preferred  the  via  media. 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  when  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  originals  of  the  Bible  had  been  almost  forgotten,  some 
of  the  schoolmen,  in  their  interpretations  of  the  Vulgate, 
closely  followed  the  traditions  of  the  Church,  while  others 
launched  upon  the  ocean  of  allegorical  fancy.  Some  held 
that  in  Scripture  there  was  a  threefold  sense — the  literal, 
the  spiritual,  and  the  moral  ;*  others,  a  fourfold  sense — 
historical,  allegorical,  tropological,  and  anagogical;f  yet 
others,  a  sevenfold  sense — historical,  allegorical,  intermedi- 
ate, tropical,  parabolical,  Christological,  moral ;  \  nay,  others, 
un  eightfold  sense — literal,  allegorical  or  parabolical,  tropo- 
logical or  etymological,  anagogical  or  analogical,  typical  or 
exemplary,  anaphorical  or  proportional,  mystical  or  apoca- 
lyptical,  Boarcademical  or  primordial ;  and,  to  crown  all, 
others,  an  infinite  sense ;  §  thus  giving  the  interpreter  space 
and  verge  enough  to  range  wherever  the  wings  of  imagina- 
tion might  bear  him. 

by  reverting  to  these  things,  which  is  like  glancing  into  a 
dark  and  roaring  vortex,  we  become  the  more  sensible  of 
the  great  advantages  which  the  Church  now  possesses  in 
those  surer  principles  of  interpretation  which  have  been  car- 
ried with  increasing  effect  into  their  practical  results*  since 
the  time  of  the  Reformation.  At  that  great  epoch  the 

*  PtwclwaiuB  Radbcrt.  t  Rabanus  Manrus,  Victor  de  St.  Hugo. 

J  Anjeelom.  S  John  Seotus  Erigena. 


THE  COMMENTATOR.  355 

necessity  which  was  felt  for  an  appeal  to  the  Bible,  as  the 
record  of  Divine  revelation,  and  the  high  rule  of  faith  to  the 
Church,  led  to  a  revived  study  of  the  languages  in  which  it 
was  first  written,  and  to  the  investigation  of  the  sacred  text 
in  its  philologic  and  simple  meaning.  With  what  good 
effect  these  pursuits  were  followed  out,  may  be  seen  in  the 
works  of  the  Romanist  commentators,  Erasmus,  Clarius, 
Cornelius  a  Lapide,  the  Jansenist  Quesnel,  and  the  learned 
Benedictine,  Augustine  Calmet ;  and  among  the  Protestants, 
in  the  exegetical  labors  of  Calvin  and  Beza,  Tremmellius, 
Grotius,  Munster,  Louis  de  Dieu,  Crozius,  and  Bengel. 

In  Germany  the  Protestant  commentators,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  skeptical  spirit  which  pervaded  Europe  toward 
the  latter  end  of  the  last  century,  gave  way  to  the  tempta- 
tion of  compromising  with  the  prejudices  of  infidelity  by  re- 
ducing the  Scriptures  almost  to  the  level  of  human  compo- 
sitions, and  of  ignoring  or  explaining  away  whatever  is  su- 
pernatural in  the  events  they  record,  or  supra-rational  in  the 
doctrines  they  inculcate.  In  this  deplorable  error  the  early 
Socinians  led  the  way,  and  they  have  been  followed  with 
strides  too  firm  and  rapid  by  the  whole  tribe  of  Continental 
Rationalists. 

In  our  day,  thanks  be  to  God,  a  wholesome  reaction  has 
taken  place ;  and  the  more  Christian  and  evangelical  exposi- 
tions of  Tholuck,  Olshausen,  Hengstenberg,  Delitzsch,  and 
several  others,  are  every  day  rising  into  a  higher  ascendant 
over  the  Lessings,  the  Bauers,  the  Pauluses,  the  Bretschneid- 
ers  of  a  school  whose  cold  and  hopeless  words  had  struck 
the  Church  with  a  palsy  which  no  power  can  heal  but  the 
power  of  the  Cross. 

Our  own  British  Christianity  has  been  mercifully  sheltered 
from  this  destructive  blight ;  and,  in  the  department  of  Bib- 
lical exposition,  the  divines  of  England,  while  they  may  not 
have  been  equal  to  their  Continental  brethren  in  the  breadth 
and  depth  of  their  philological  learning,  have  nevertheless 
left  them  immeasurably  behind  in  soundness  of  exegetic 
principle,  and  ability  in  expounding  the  holy  Scriptures,  so 


356  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

as  to  promote  the  edification  of  the  Church  in  faith  and 
virtue,  and  the  fulfillment  of  the  merciful  designs  for  which 
the  Bible  was  given  to  mankind. 

In  the  erudite  criticism  of  the  Scriptures,  the  nine  folio 
volumes  of  the  CRITICI  SACRI*  formed  an  Appendix  to  the 
London  Polyglot  worthy  of  the  learning  and  labor  which 
had  been  displayed  in  that  grand  undertaking.  This  work, 
which  embodies  the  principal  commentators,  Romanist  and 
Protestant,  who  had  flourished  since  the  Reformation,  was 
ably  condensed  (with  additions)  in  the  "  SYNOPSIS  CRITICOR- 
UM  "  of  Matthew  Poole  in  five  volumes  folio.  These  enter- 
prises were  followed  up  by  the  more  indigenous  labors  of 
Ainsworth  on  the  Pentateuch  and  Psalms,  Caryl  on  Job, 
Owen  on  the  Hebrews,  Gill  in  a  learned  Commentary  on 
the  Bible  which  is  not  sufficiently  known,  Lightfoot's  Tal- 
inudical  illustrations  of  the  New  Testament,  Hammond  and 
Whitby  on  the  same  book,  and  Bishops  Patrick,  Lowth,  etc., 
on  Isaiah  and  the  other  prophets ;  nor,  among  several  others 
who  might  claim  to  be  mentioned,  should  we  forget  Campbell 
on  the  Gospels,  and  Macknight  on  the  Apostolical  Epistles. 

Then,  for  the  more  substantial  and  homiletic  class  of  Com- 
mentaries, there  were — Burkitt,  who  published  in  that  way 
the  substance  of  his  own  preaching  ;  Matthew  Henry,  a  ven- 
erable name,  loved  by  all  good  men,  whose  comments  have 
a  heavenly  charm  which  has  attracted  and  improved  the 
most  lofty  minds  in  all  religious  communions  ;  Wesley, 
who  expresses  more  in  a  sentence  than  many  writers  in 
whole  pages  ;  Doddridge,  gracious  and  devout ;  Scott,  mas- 
culine in  reason,  as  well  as  steadfast  in  faith  ;  Dodd,  whose 
Commentary  condenses  the  best  parts  of  Calmet,  with  mat- 
ter supplied  by  his  own  resources  and  the  inedited  papers 
of  other  eminent  scholars  ;  and  among  the  Methodists,  Ben- 
son, who  expanded  the  notes  of  Mr.  Wesley,  adding  much 
rich  material  from  other  sources ;  and  Coke,-  who,  by  the 
editorial  labors  of  Mr.  Drew,  published  a  Commentary 

*  London,  1G60.     Republished  at  Amsterdam,  with  a  Supplement,  1702, 
Lu  twelve  volumes. 


THE  COMMENTATOR.  357 

which,  though  not  in  all  parts  original,  (being  in  fact  a  rif- 
acimento  of  Dodd's,*  just  as  the  latter  was  of  Calmet,)  is 
nevertheless  a  thoroughly  good  and  useful  exposition  of 
the  sacred  text.f 

Most  of  these  English  Commentaries  are  reducible  to 
two  classes.  Some  are  dryly  critical,  without  being  popu- 
lar ;  others  popular  without  being  critical.  Now  Dr.  Adam 
Clarke  seems  to  have  entertained  the  idea  of  producing  a 
work  which  should  combine  the  advantages  of  both  classes ; 
sufficiently  critical  to  aid  the  inquiries  of  the  more  serious 
student,  and  yet  sufficiently  popular  to  serve  the  purposes 
of  general  edification.  It  was  his  purpose  to  give  a  lucid 
view  of  the  several  books  of  Scripture,  as  to  their  dates 
and  authors,  their  scope  and  connection  ;  to  expound  the 
original  text  in  a  manner  to  adapt  itself  to  the  deficiencies 
of  the  English  reader ;  to  elucidate  difficulties  in  chronology, 
history,  and  Oriental  manners ;  to  develope  the  grand  doc- 
trines of  revelation,  and  apply  the  whole  to  the  great  con- 
cerns of  human  salvation  and  duty. 

To  the  accomplishment  of  this  task  he  brought  qualifica- 
tions which  proved  his  designation  to  it  by  the  providence 
and  grace  of  God ;  strong  and  expansive  powers  of  intel- 
lect ;  an  almost  universal  erudition ;  a  faith  of  the  heart  in- 
wrought by  the  Holy  Spirit  whose  words  he  sought  to  in- 
terpret ;  and  a  resolute  will,  which  bore  him  up  in  body 
and  mind,  from  year  to  year,  till  the  great  labor  should  be 
completed.  The  seven  gifts  which,  according  to  Augustine, 
the  true  expositor  of  Scripture  must  possess — reverence, 
piety,  science,  fortitude,  prudence,  cleanness  of  heart,  and 
heavenly  wisdom J — the  Lord  had  vouchsafed  him  in  blessed 
degrees  ;  and  by  the  diligent  improvement  of  them,  in  this 

*  It  is  remarkable  that  the  notes  in  Dodd,  usually  ascribed  to  Locke, 
are  found  to  have  been  Cudworth's. 

t  Since  then,  the  Methodist  press  has  issued  the  masterly  disquisitions 
of  Watson  on  part  of  the  New  Testament ;  and  the  Commentary  of  Sut- 
cliffe,  abounding  in  reflections  which  have  great  unction  and  beauty. 

|  Timor,  pittas,  scientia,fortitudo,  concilium,  purgatio  cordit,  sapientia. 
Aug.,  De  Dovtrina  CItrtit.,  ii,  7. 


S58  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

and  the  other. endeavors  of  his  devoted  life,  these  graces 
increased  with  his  years.  He  was  moved  also  by  a  con- 
viction of  responsibility.  He  heard  the  voice  of  God. 

The  studies  of  his  earlier  years  had  always  a  bearing  on  this 
grand  design.  From  the  beginning  he  felt  the  need  of  being 
taught  by  God  to  understand  his  own  word.  Referring  to 
his  comparatively  juvenile  life,  he  says:  "No  man  ever 
taught  me  the  doctrine  I  embraced  ;  I  received  it  singly  by 
reading  the  Bible.  From  that  alone  I  saw  that  justification 
by  faith,  the  witness  of  the  spirit,  and  the  sanctification  of 
the  heart  were  all  attainable.  These  I  saw  as  clearly  as  I 
do  now ;  and  from  them  I  have  never  swerved.  I  often 
read  the  Bible  on  my  knees.  When  I  came  to  a  passage 
I  did  not  fully  understand,  I  said,  '  Lord,  here  is  thy  book ; 
it  is  given  for  the  salvation  of  man ;  it  can  be  no  salvation 
to  him  unless  he  understand  it ;  thou  hast  the  key  of  this 
text,  unlock  it  to  me;'  and  praying 'thus  I  generally  received 
such  light  as  was  satisfactory  to  myself."  Thus  he  had 
grace  to  approach  the  fountain  itself  and  draw. 

We  have  seen  that  while  in  the  Norman  Isles  he  applied 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  Septuagint,  in  reading  which  he 
noted  down  the  most  important  differences  between  that 
venerable  translation  and  the  Hebrew  text,  with  which  he 
had  already  become  familiar.  In  reading  thus  carefully  the 
version  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  Alexandrine  Greek, 
he  acquired  an  intimacy  with  the  peculiar  diction  of  the 
New  Testament  writers  ;  and  when  afterward,  at  Dublin, 
he  began  some  notes  on  the  latter,  he  saw  the  necessity  of 
a  thorough  and  critical  perusal  of  the  printed  text  of  the 
New  Testament,  as  collated  with  the  manuscripts,  either 
by  himself,  so  far  as  his  opportunities  reached,  or  through 
the  labors  of  Wetsteiu  and  others,  and  especially  of  Gries- 
bach,  who  was  at  that  time  zealously  employed  on  his  edi- 
tion of  the  Greek  Testament.*  To  make  his  investigation 

*  This  department  of  biblical  criticism  has  in  our  day  been  brought  to 
on  almost  consummate  perfection  by  the  efforts  of  Lachmann,  Tisdieu- 
dorf,  and  our  own  countryman,  Trcgulles. 


THE  COMMENTATOR.  359 

more  minute  and  definite,  he  resolved  to  translate  the  text 
in  writing ;  a  task  which  was  begun  in  June,  1794,  and  fin- 
ished in  eleven  months.  In  January,  1797,  he  commenced 
the  same  process  with  the  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  text  of  the 
Old  Testament;  and  this  written  translation  was  finished  in 
about  fourteen  months.  Along  with  the  translation  he 
had  made  occasional  notes  and  memoranda  for  his  future 
work.  Two  months  after,  May  1st,  1798,  he  began  in  good 
earnest  the  actual  Commentary,  commencing  with  the 
Gospels. 

He  now  wrote  with  a  vigor  and  determination  which 
enabled  him,  toward  the  close  of  the  year,  to  give 
a  good  account  of  the  work  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Butter- 
worth  : 

"A  few  moments  before  your  letter  came,  I  was  on  my 
knees  returning  thanks  to  God  for  supporting  and  assisting 
me  in  my  work,  and  enabling  me  to  bring  one  part  of  it  to 
completion.  What  think  you  ?  I  have  finished  Matthew  ; 
I  have  done  more,  I  have  finished  Mark.  I  began  May  1st 
wrought  till  July  22d,  when  I  set  off  for  Bristol.  I  could 
not  get  things  to  bear,  to  recommence,  till  September,  22d. 
Yesterday,  December  1st,  I  finished  Mark  ;  having  spent, 
in  the  whole,  about  five  months.  While  in  London,  though 
I  labored  hard,  I  could  make  but  little  way  ;  so  that  nearly 
three  months  were  employed  on  the  first  twelve  chapters 
of  Matthew,  occasioned  by  the  miserable  place  where  I  was 
obliged  to  study.  Any  that  had  less  of  the  mule's  dispo- 
sition than  I  have  would  have  abandoned  it  in  settled  dis- 
like. Since  I  came  here  my  labor  has  been  great  indeed, 
constant  and  severe  preaching,  and  early  and  late  writing. 
For  nearly  a  month  past  I  wrote  nine  or  ten  hours  a  day ; 
some  days,  more.  Mark  was  easy  work  after  Matthew ; 
yet  even  on  Mark  I  have  written  upward  of  100  close 
quarto  pages ;  the  whole  740  pages. 

"  You  will  be  able  to  form  some  estimate  of  the  quan- 
tum of  letter-press  this  will  make,  when  I  inform  you  that 
each  page  contains  about  '28  linos ;  total,  20,720  lines  ;  each 


360  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

line,  34  letters  ;  total,  704,480  letters.  You  will  at  once 
see  that  I  must  not  go  on  at  this  rate,  or  the  book  will  be 
unbuyable.  I  assure  you  I  do  not  intend  it.  My  aim  from 
the  beginning  was  to  make  the  comment  on  Matthew  per- 
fect, not  by  saying  all  that  might  be  said,  but  by  saying 
all  that  should  be  said.  To  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  I 
have  not  inserted  one  useless  sentence.  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  Gospel  is  the  grand  source  from  which  all  the 
apostolic  doctrines  have  been  drawn.*  I  have  written 
six  hundred  pages  upon  it,  and  I  humbly  trust  no  godly 
mind  will  ever  feel  wearied  in  reading  them.  I  have 
done  everything  in  my  own  way.  I  have  no  more  of  my 
translation  revised  for  the  comment;  and  it  will  take 
nearly  a  month  to  prepare  Luke  and  John  to  go  on  with.  I 
bought  Geddes's  Bible,  expecting  much,  got  nothing,  and 
sold  it." 

In  the  course  of  the  following  year  he  had  got  so  far  into 
the  New  Testament  as  to  venture  to  advertise  it ;  and  he 
tells  Mr.  Butterworth  that  he  had  got  a  couple  of  pages  set 
up,  "  merely  to  see  how  it  will  look.  ...  I  have  made  up 
my  mind  to  send  the  old  text  alongside  of  the  new.  The 
book  will  be  better  received  on  this  account,  and  be  more 
useful.  My  translation  will  suffer  no  loss  by  the  compari- 
son. 1  have  had  this  specimen  taken  off'  on  royal  quarto. 
You  must  not  let  it  go  out  of  your  hand.  My  plan  of  in- 
terpreting the  Transfiguration  is  new,  so  far  as  I  know ; 
and  I  do  not  wish  that  everybody  should  have  it  before 
the  work  sees  the  sun.  At  first  view  there  will  appear  lit- 
tle difference  in  the  two  translations.  I  do  not  wish  it,  ex- 
cept where  essentially  necessary ;  but  the  fifth  and  eleventh 
verses  will  show  the  importance  of  making  the  Holy  Spirit 
speak  English  as  he  speaks  Greek.  I  did  not  choose  this 
portion  because  of  any  difference  between  the  texts,  but 
merely  because  the  subject  was  complete  in  it." 

He  reached  the  end  of  the  fourth  Gospel  in  November, 

*  Here  and  in  a  few  other  places,  the  careful  reader  may  qualify  the 
.Doctor's  statements. 


THE  COMMENTATOR.  361 

1799;  but,  though  so  far  in  readiness,  the  work  was  not 
consigned  to  the  printer  till  nearly  ten  years  after.  He  ac- 
counts for  this  delay  in  a  Prospectus  issued  in  1809,  by  the 
sudden  rise  in  the  price  of  paper,  and  the  announcement  of 
another  work  on  the  Scriptures  by  a  friend.  "As  I  could  not 
bear  the  thought,"  he  says,  "  of  even  the  most  distant  ap- 
pearance of  opposition  to  any  man,  I  gave  place,  being  deter- 
mined not  to  attempt  to  divide  the  attention  of  the  public, 
nor  hinder  the  spread  of  a  work  which,  for  aught  I  then  knew, 
might  supersede  the  necessity  of  mine."  That  work,  how- 
ever, had  been  for  some  time  completed,  and  the  subscribers 
supplied  with  their  copies ;  and,  as  repeated  requests  reached 
Mr.  Clarke  for  the  production  of  his  long  promised  Com- 
mentary, he  hesitated  no  longer.  No  doubt  the  interval  had 
conduced  to  improve  the  work,  by  giving  space  for  recon- 
sideration and  correction.  By  this  time  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  was  in  readiness ;  so  that  the 
actual  publication  began,  not  with  the  Gospels,  but  with  the 
Book  of  Genesis.  In  the  interim  he  had  also  changed  the 
plan  of  the  work.  His  own  translation  of  the  sacred  text 
had  been  intended  to  be  printed  at  large.  This  idea  was 
now  abandoned,  and  the  new  translation  incorporated,  in 
successive  clauses  or  fragments,  in  the  notes,  as  often  as  a 
modification  of  the  authorized  English  text  seemed  to  be 
required. 

Mr.  Butterworth  now  followed  up  the  Prospectus  with 
another  of  his  own,  in  which  he  solicited  subscriptions  for 
the  work  on  the  author's  behalf;  an  appeal  which  was  re- 
sponded to  by  a  list  of  sixteen  hundred  subscribers,  among 
whom  were  several  noblemen,  and  other  persons  of  rank 
and  influence  belonging  to  the  Church  of  England,  as  well 
as  to  the  Dissenting  and  Methodist  communions.  Mr.  But- 
terworth, the  publisher,  was  so  encouraged  by  this  demon- 
stration, as  to  resolve  on  striking  off  ten  thousand  copies  on 
common  paper,  and  one  thousand  on  a  finer  paper  and 
larger  page.  Nor  did  he  over-calculate ;  for,  in  fact,  not 
only  did  the  eleven  thousand  copies  go  off,  but  nearly  eight 


362  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

hundred  more  were  required  before  the  first  demand  could 
be  supplied.* 

We  have  no  room  to  enter  more  largely  into  these  details, 
or  to  follow  our  commentator  minutely  in  the  further  pro- 
secution of  his  toilsome  career.  Let  it  suffice  to  say,  that 
when  the  Pentateuch  and  Gospels  were  thus  launched  upon 
the  world,  and  the  expositor  was  committed  with  his  sub- 
scribers to  the  plighted  engagement  of  completing  the  series 
of  the  holy  Books,  the  great  body  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
apostolic  writings  remained  to  be  yet  undertaken ;  and  that 
the  accomplishment  of  this  task,  and  that,  too,  with  the 
heavy  responsibilities  of  his  ministerial  charge,  his  duties  in 
the  Record  Commission,  and  the  completion  of  several  other 
works,  rendered  the  next  fifteen  years  of  his  life  one  almost 
unremitting  agony  of  labor.  At  length,  in  great  exhaustion, 
he  approached  the  goal.  In  the  beginning  of  March,  1825, 
he  remarks  to  a  friend :  "  For  some  time  past  I  have  suf- 
fered much  in  my  eyes;  it  is  impossible  they  should  last. 
All  winter  I  have  written  several  hours  before  day,  and  sev- 
eral after  night.  Under  this  they  have  failed.  But  I  want 
to  get  the  Commentary  done.  I  have  got  to  the  end  of  thoi 
sixth  of  the  twelve  minor  prophets ;  so  there  are  six  more 
to  do.  Jeremiah  and  Daniel  are  finished  and  printed.  Of 
Ezekiel,  thirty  chapters.  You  see,  then,  that  I  am  fully  in 
sight  of  land." 

At  length  the  hour  of  its  completion  struck.  Adam  Clarke 
closed  the  work  of  his  Commentary,  as  he  had  begun  it  so 
many  years  before,  kneeling  in  the  presence  of  God.  "  It 
will  give  you  pleasure,"  writes  he  to  a  friend,  "  to  hear  that 
on  March  28th,  1825,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  I  wrote 
upon  my  knees  the  last  note  on  the  last  verse  of  the  last 
chapter  of  Malachi.  Thus  terminated  a  work  on  which  I 
have  painfully  employed  upward  of  thirty  years."  On  re- 
ferring to  the  last  note  itself,  we  find  the  following  devout 

*  Successive  editions  of  Dr.  Clarke's  Commentary,  both  in  England  and 
America,  have  placed  it  among  the  most  extensively  circulated  works  of 
the  kind  in  existence. 


THE   COMMENTATOR.  363 

and  worthy  record :  "  To  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost  be  eternal  praises.  Amen.  I  have  this  day  com- 
pleted this  Commentary  on  which  I  have  labored  above 
thirty  years,  and  which,  when  I  began,  I  never  expected  to 
live  long  enough  to  finish.  May  it  be  a  means  of  securing 
glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  peace  and  good-will  among 
men  upon  earth !  Amen.  Amen." 

He  says  elsewhere :  "  In  this  arduous  work  I  have  had  no 
assistants,  not  even  a  single  week's  help  from  an  amanuen- 
sis ;  no  person  to  look  for  commonplaces,  or  refer  to  an 
ancient  author,  to  find  out  the  place  and  transcribe  a  passage 
of  Latin,  Greek,  or  any  other  language,  (which  my  memory 
had  generally  recalled,)  or  to  verify  a  quotation ;  the  help 
excepted  which  I  received  in  the  chronological  department 
from  my  own  nephew,  Mr.  John  Edward  Clarke.  I  have 
labored  alone  for  twenty-five  years  previously  to  the  work 
being  sent  to  the  press,  and  fifteen  years  have  been  em- 
ployed in  bringing  it  through  the  press  ;  so  that  nearly  forty 
years  of  life  have  been  so  consumed." 

We  have  the  family  memorandum,  that  on  the  evening 
that  the  work  was  finished  Dr.  Clarke  came  into  the  parlor, 
and,  without  speaking,  beckoning  to  his  youngest  son,  took 
him  away  to  the  study.  On  entering  he  found  the  usual 
signs  of  work  all  laid  aside ;  the  books  marshaled  in  their 
shelves,  the  study-table  clear,  with  the  exception  of  a  copy 
of  the  Bible,  and  the  whole  place  with  the  unwonted  appear- 
ance of  repose.  The  doctor  then  spoke :  "  This,  Joseph,  is 
the  happiest  period  I  have  enjoyed  for  years  ;  I  have  put  the 
last  hand  to  my  Comment.  I  have  written  the  last  word. 
I  have  put  away  the  chains  that  would  remind  me  of  my 
bondage ;  and  there" — pointing  to  the  steps  of  his  library- 
ladder — "  have  I  returned  the  deep  thanks  of  a  grateful  soul 
to  the  God  who  has  shown  me  such  great  and  continued 
kindness.  I  shall  now  go  into  the  parlor,  tell  my  good  news 
to  the  rest,  and  enjoy  myself  for  the  day." 

Of  the  Commentary  we  have  no  need  to  say  anything  in 
the  way  of  description :  a  book  found  alike  on  the  shelves 


364:  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

of  the  peer  and  the  peasant  is  too  well  known  to  require 
this.  Its  merits  and  blemishes  have  long  ago  been  pointed 
out,  and  call  for  no  new  criticisms.  One  leading  feature  in 
its  character  is  independence  in  thinking.  English  commen- 
tators in  general  are  not  distinguished  by  originality.  Sev- 
eral of  them  have  notoriously  borrowed  from  their  prede- 
cessors, and  appear  to  have  been  either  unable  or  unwilling 
to  think  for  themselves.  Clarke,  while  he  availed  himself 
largely  of  the  labors  of  other  scholars  in  almost  every 
branch,  yet  knew  how  to  transmute  their  material  so  as  to 
subserve  his  own  ideas,  and  to  give  it  the  imprint  of  his 
personal  mind.  But  the  greater  number  of  his  expositions 
are  emphatically  his  own. 

In  a  work,  then,  thus  marked  by  original  thinking,  we  are 
prepared  here  and  there  to  find  traces  of  a  strong  idiosyn- 
crasy. We  should  recollect  that  the  author  is  a  man  who 
is  used  to  decide  for  himself,  and  that  "  with  a  will ;"  so  we 
are  not  to  be  astonished  if  he  even  argues  that  Judas  will 
be  saved,  or  that  the  serpent  which  tempted  Eve  was  a 
baboon. 

This  latter  opinion,  it  must  be  confessed,  when  first  enun- 
ciated, took  the  learned  world  by  surprise ;  and  intelligent 
men  who  wished  well  to  the  author's  enterprise  felt  some 
misgivings  for  the  success  of  a  work  which  proclaimed  at 
the  very  outset  a  novelty  so  startling.  Some  critics  assailed 
him  with  raillery,  and  others  with  reproach.  The  doctor, 
in  general,  was  indifferent  to  attacks  of  either  kind  ;  but,  in 
defense  of  his  favorite  opinion,  he  surmounted  for  once  his 
dislike  to  controversial  discussion,  and  met  his  antagonists 
in  open  fight ;  if  that,  indeed,  could  be  called  open,  in  which 
his  principal  antagonist  appeared  with  a  visor.  A  writer  in 
the  Classical  Journal  had  penned,  under  the  Arabic  name 
of  Al  Tefleesh,  "the  Investigator,"  a  series  of  animadver- 
sions on  Dr.  Clarke's  interpretation  of  the  word  nachash, 
which  called  forth  a  reply  from  the  author  in  the  same  serial, 
in  which  the  subject  receives  a  more  extensive  examination 
than  he  had  given  it  in  the  Commentary,  and  is  put  before 


THE  COMMENTATOR.  365 

the  reader  in  such  points  of  view,  and  with  such  ingenuity, 
as  to  insure  a  respectful  attention,  if  it  fail  to  command  his 
final  acquiescence.  The  paper  in  question  will  be  found  re- 
printed in  the  tenth  volume  of  the  Miscellaneous  Wcrks. 
He  here  admits  that  the  word  nachash,  rendered  "  serpent" 
in  Gen.  iii,  1,  sometimes  has  that  meaning,  but  shows  that 
it  has  others,  and  attempts  to  make  out  that  it  has  another 
meaning  in  that  text. 

A  more  grave  error,  in  the  estimation  of  many  divines 
of  the  day,  was  committed  by  the  commentator  in  adopting, 
in  his  notes  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  the  view  of 
Doctor  John  Taylor,  as  developed  in  his  "Key"  to  that 
Epistle.  But  here  Dr.  Clarke  should  have  the  benefit  of  his 
own  explanation,  and  we  will  hear  him  for  himself:  "In 
my  notes  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  I  have  entered  at 
large  into  a  discussion  on  the  subjects  to  which  I  have 
referred  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians ;  and,  to  set  the 
subject  in  a  clear  point  of  view,  I  have  made  a  copious 
extract  from  Dr.  Taylor's  Key  to  that  Epistle ;  and  I  have 
stated  that  a  consistent  exposition  of  it  cannot  be  given  but 
upon  that  plan."  Hereby  we  see  "  that  the  doctrines  of 
eternal,  unconditional  reprobation  and  election,  and  the 
impossibility  of  falling  finally  from  the  grace  of  God,  have 
no  foundation  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  Taylor  has 
shown  that  the  phrases  on  which  these  doctrines  are  founded 
refer  to  national  privileges,  and  those  exclusive  advantages 
which  the  Jews,  as  God's  peculiar  people,  enjoyed,  during 
the  time  in  which  that  peculiarity  was  designed  to  last ;  and 
that  it  is  doing  violence  to  the  sense  in  which  those  expres- 
sions are  generally  used,  to  apply  them  to  the  support  of 
such  doctrines.  In  reference  to  this  I  have  quoted  him,  and 
those  illustrations  of  his  which  I  have  adopted  I  have 
adopted  on  this  ground  ;  taking  care  never  to  pledge  myself 
to  any  of  his  peculiar  or  heterodox  opinions.  .  .  .In  this 
sense  alone  those  quotations  ought  to  be  understood,  and 
my  whole  work  sufficiently  shows  that  Dr.  Taylor's  peculiar 
theological  system  makes  no  part  of  mine ;  that  on  the 


366  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

doctrine  of  the  fall  of  man,  the  eternal  Deity  of  Jesus 
Christ,  of  justification  by  faith  in  the  atoning  blood,  and  the 
inspiration  and  regenerating  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
we  stand  in  diametrical  opposition  to  each  other.  Yet  this 
most  distinguishing  difference  cannot  blind  me  against  the 
excellence  I  find  in  his  work."  And  again:  "If  I  have 
quoted,  to  illustrate  the  sacred  writings,  passages  almost 
innumerable  from  Greek  and  Roman  heathens,  Jewish  Tal- 
mudists,  the  Koran,  and  from  Brahminical  Polytheists,  and 
these  illustrations  have  been  well  received  by  the  Christian 
public,  surely  I  may  have  liberty  to  use,  in  the  same  way, 
the  works  of  a  very  learned  man,  and  a  most  conscientious 
believer  in  the  books  of  Divine  revelation,  however  errone- 
ous he  may  be  in  certain  doctrines  which  I  myself  deem  of 
vital  importance  to  the  creed  of  an  experimental  Christian. 
Let  it  not  be  said  that,  by  thus  quoting  largely  from  his 
work,  I  tacitly  recommend  an  Arian  creed :  *  I  no  more 
do  so  than  the  Indian  matron  who,  while  she  gives  the  nour- 
ishing rind  of  the  cassava  to  her  household,  recommends 
them  to  drink  of  the  poisonous  juice  which  she  has  pre- 
viously expressed  from  it."  These  explanations  ought  to 
suffice  with  all  reasonable  men. 

There  was  yet  another  topic  introduced  by  the  commen- 
tator, which  led  to  a  more  serious  controversy :  I  refer  to 
his  doctrine  regarding  the  Divine  Sonship  of  the  Redeemer. 
I  allude  to  it  with  extreme  reluctance,  as  it  is  the  only  em- 
barrassing subject  in  the  entire  biography  of  this  most 
excellent  servant  of  God  ;  embarrassing,  on  account  of  any 
implied  censure  that  it  might  seem  to  associate  with  his 
honored  name.  And  this  painful  feeling  of  reluctance,  I 
venture  to  believe,  is  participated  by  my  reverend  fathers 
and  brethren  who  are  the  promoters  of  the  present  volume. 
I  presume  it  is  not  their  wish,  and  it  cannot  be  my  own,  to 
give  a  renewed  prominence  to  a  subject  so  unpleasant.  I  am, 
thankful  to  recollect  that  but  few  words  are  needed  in  alluding 

*  Taylor  is  often  styled  an  Arian ;  but  his  views  are  considerably  lower 
than  those  which  that  term  will  convey  to  the  well-informed  theologian. 


THE  COMMENTATOR.  367 

K>  it,  as  the  controversy  has  long  ago  been  brought  to  a 
peaceful  termination.  When  the  question  was  discussed,  it 
was, not  discussed  in  vain.  It  was  done  in  sorrow  on  both 
sides,  but  was  productive,  after  all,  of  beneficial  results,  in 
bringing  a  solemn  truth  of  revelation  more  fully  before  the 
eyes  of  the  Church,  and  in  giving  a  greater  clearness,  vigor, 
and  steadfastness  to  the  faith  of  believers  in  the  Divine — 
and  therefore  eternal — Sonship  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

The  infirm  and  glimmering  intellect  of  man  can  know 
nothing  of  the  tremendous  mysteries  of  the  Infinite  Nature, 
but  by  revelation.  We  must  go  to  the  word  of  God,  with 
an  humble  and  believing  heart. 

It  is  there  revealed,  not  only  that  in  the  Divine  Subsist- 
ence there  are  Three  Persons,  but  that  the  relation  of  the 
Second  Person  to  the  First  is  that  of  SON. 

Dr.  Clarke  was  a  devout  believer  in  the  Trinity,  but  he 
demurred  as  to  this  relationship.  He  considered  that  the 
name  of  "  the  Son  of  God  "  was  a  Messianic  title  of  the 
Redeemer,  as  the  consequence  of  his  having  been  born  of 
the  Virgin  ;  he  denied  that  it  was  descriptive  of  his  mode 
of  existence  prior  to  the  Incarnation.* 

Now  revelation  affirms  that  the  only  begotten  Son  was 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Father ;  that  God  so  loved  the  world 
as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son ;  that  the  Son  of  God  was 
sent  into  the  world  ;  that  the  Son  of  God  was  manifested  in 
the  flesh  ;  that  the  Word  who  was  in  the  beginning  with 
God,  and  who  was  God,  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among 
us  ;  and  that  the  glory  which  He  then  made  manifest  was 
the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father. 

But  Dr.  Clarke  believed  that  the  Second  Person  of  the 
Trinity,  who  was  thus  revealed  in  the  flesh,  was  thencefor- 
ward to  be  known  as  the  Son  of  God,  but  not  as  the  eter- 

*Thc  grounds  of  this  denial  he  has  given  at  large  in  his  notes  on  St 
Luke  i,  35.  They  are  mainly  rationalistic ;  and,  when  dealing  with  Heb. 
i,  3,  the  Doctor  himself  uses  a  mode  of  reasoning  in  direct  opposition  to 
tlicin — u  mode  which  has  bei-n  justly  pronounced  "  perfectly  satisfac- 
tory to  the  most  fastidious  of  his  opponents." 


368  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

nally  begotten  of  the  Father ;  because,  according  to  his  view, 
no  such  relation  was  possible. 

In  this  respect,  and  this  only,  Dr.  Clarke  made  a  certain 
divergence  from  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The 
Church  from  the  beginning  has  taken  those  emphatic  state- 
ments of  Scripture  in  their  true  and  literal  meaning,  and 
has  evermore  taught  and  testified  that  the  Second  Person  of 
the  Trinity  is,  by  an  ineffable  and  eternal  generation,  the 
Son  of  God.  That  such  is  the  sense  in  which  the  Church 
has  received  these  Scriptures,  is  evident  from  those  solemn 
enunciations  of  doctrine  we  call  the  Creeds.  Even  before 
the  increasing  heresies  of  the  fourth  century  rendered  an 
03cumenical  declaration  of  that  kind  necessary,  (at  the  coun- 
cil of  Nicaea,)  most  of  the  great  Christian  communities  had 
given  their  profession  of  faith  in  this  particular,  as  well  as 
others.  That,  for  example,  of  Antioch,  where  the  disciples 
were  first  called  Christians :  "  I  believe  in  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  his  only  begotten  Son,  born  of  him  before  all 
worlds  ;  True  God  of  True  God  ;  by  whom  also  the  worlds 
were  framed,  and  all  things  made."  Or  that  of  Jerusalem, 
the  mother  of  us  all,  as  it  is  found  in  the  Catechetics  of  St. 
Cyril,  bishop  there  in  345 :  "  I  believe  in  one  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  begotten  of  the  Father 
before  all  ages  ;  the  true  God,  by  whom  all  things  were 
made." 

In  the  great  assembly  of  Nicaea  the  universal  Church  pro- 
nounced the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  and  called 
upon  the  faithful,  in  all  ages  to  come,  to  abide  in  the  same 
truth :  "  We  believe  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father  ;  that  is,  of  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Father  ;  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  very  God 
of  very  God  ;  begotten,  not  made  ;  consubstantial  with  the 
Father ;  by  whom  all  things  were  made." 

No  man  had  a  greater  abhorrence  of  Arianism  than  Dr. 
Adam  Clarke ;  yet  with  this  main  point  in  the  testimony  of 
the  Church  against  Arianism  he  could  not  bring  his  mind  to 
concur.  He  had  embraced,  and  ever  held  fast,  certain  ra- 


THE  COMMENTATOR.  369 

tionalistic  arguments  which  prevented  him  from  believing 
that  "  the  Son  of  God  was  begotten  of  the  Father  before  all 
worlds." 

This  unhappy  twist  in  the  Doctor's  judgment  was  formed 
in  his  juvenile  years,*  but  never  rectified.  An  intellectual 
conservative  in  the  strictest  sense,  whatever  he  mentally 
apprehended  he  no  more  renounced  ;  and,  when  far  advanced 
in  life,  could  affirm  that  he  had  never  changed  his  creed. 

When  the  gravity  of  the  subject  is  considered,  we  are  not 
surprised  that  the  thesis  laid  down  so  formally  by  the 
learned  and  influential  commentator,  and  defended  by  him 
with  such  an  array  of  argument,  should  have  called  forth 
the  most  serious  reclamations  from  his  brethren  in  the  min- 
istry ;  but  we  are  surprised  that  these  remonstrances, 
though  expressed  in  respectful  terms,  and  enforced  by  earn- 
est reasonings  out  of  the  Scriptures,  should  have  been  rep- 
resented by  some  as  betraying  an  animus  of  personal  dis- 
like to  the  Doctor,  and  as  amounting,  in  fact,  to  a  sort  of 
ecclesiastical  persecution.  Certainly  such  divines  as  Wil- 
liam France  and  Richard  Watson  had  as  good  a  right  to 
show  their  opinion  as  Dr.  Clarke  had  to  state  and  defend 
his  own ;  nor  did  the  practical  assertion  of  this  right  involve 
the  necessity  of  indulging  in  either  disposition  or  language 
discordant  with  the  veneration  which  they  entertained  for 
the  sanctity  of  his  life,  the  amplitude  of  his  learning,  and  the 
dignity  and  honor  of  his  name. 

Writing  a  simple  biography,  and  not  a  theological  treat- 
ise, I  abstain  from  any  attempt  to  give  an  analysis  of  this 
controversy,  content  with  recording  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  arose.  The  discussion  of  the  subject  itself  would 
require  a  volume.  Happily,  the  question  has  been  suffi- 
ciently settled,  and  determined,  too,  on  the  right  side.  Most 

*  So  early  as  about  1787  he  had  written  the  outline  of  his  favorite  argn  - 
mcnt  against  the  Eternal  Sonship,  and  in  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Wesley 
took  the  opportunity  to  read  the  paper  to  him.  His  venerable  friend, 
from  the  short  reply  which  lie  made,  evidently  thought  that  it  would  be 
sufficient  to  remind  him  that,  in  embracing  such  a  doctrine,  he  was  in 
of  departing  from  tin-  faith  of  the  true  Church. 

24 


370  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

of  the  pamphlets  in  which  the  discussion  was  carried  on  are 
now  out  of  print ;  but  whoever  would  master  the  entire 
argument  should  study  Mr.  Watson's  "  Remarks,"  *  and 
the  "  Inquiry  into  the  Doctrine  of  the  Eternal  Sonship  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  Richard  Treffry,  junior."-)-  The 
latter  work,  distinguished  as  it  is  by  genuine  theologic 
science,  consummate  criticism,  and  Christian  temper,  has 
taken  an  abiding  place  among  the  classics  of  English  divin- 
ity. From  many  years  of  intimate  friendship  with  the 
lamented  author,  and  repeated  opportunities  of  conversation 
with  him  while  engaged  in  the  labor  of  that  work,  I  can 
testify  that,  so  far  as  Dr.  Clarke  was  personally  concerned, 
he  had  in  Mr.  Treffry  an  admirer  whose  reverence  for  him 
was  almost  boundless. 

This,  it  should  be  remarked  in  conclusion,  is  the  flaw  in 
the  doctor's  otherwise  sound  and  Scriptural  theology.  No 
man  was  more  steadfast  than  he,  in  life  and  death,  in  his  af- 
fiance in  the  great  truth  that  Jesus  Christ,  his  Redeemer, 
was  "over  all,  God  blessed  forever;"  and  to  make  this 
truth  known  to  the  world  by  preaching  it,  writing  it,  and 
living  it,  became  his  peace,  his  glory,  and  his  joy.  As  to 
the  peculiar  point  in  which  he  differed  from  his  brethren,  he 
never  gave  prominence  to  it,  except  in  the  statements  in  his 
Commentary  upon  a  very  few  texts.  In  his  public  preach- 
ing he  carefully  abstained  from  making  any  allusion  to  it ; 
and  that,  from  a  sense  of  honor,  as  a  minister  of  a  body 
which,  in  common  with  the  Church  at  large,  held  a  doctrine 
in  this  one  solitary  instance  opposite  to  his  own ;  and  from 
a  persuasion,  no  doubt,  that,  could  he  otherwise  make  it  with 
propriety  an  element  in  his  popular  addresses,  it  would  bo 
very  far  from  promoting  the  edification  of  the  people.J 

Dr.  Adam  Clarke's  Commentary  on  the  Holy  Scriptures 
is,  on  the  whole  one  of  the  noblest  works  of  the  class  in  the 

v  Works,  vol.  iii.  t  Third  Edition.    London  :  Mason.  1849. 

J  It  deserves  to  be  added,  that  when  Dr.  Clarke  was  elected  President, 
nfter  the  Conference  had  pronounced  on  the  Sonship  question,  he  was 
most  studiously  exact  in  eliciting  from  each  candidate  for  ordination  a 
nt  of  his  agreement  on  this  point  with  the  theology  of  the  body. 


THE    COMMENTATOR.  371 

entire  domain  of  sacred  literature.  It  is  a  thesaurus  of 
general  learning ;  and,  as  the  exposition  of  an  Eastern  book, 
it  abounds  very  properly  with  a  great  variety  of  Oriental 
illustrations,  philological,  ethnic,  and  antiquarian.  In  amass- 
ing these,  he  drew  from  the  most  choice  lexicons  of  the 
Hebrew  and  cognate  languages ;  from  the  rabbinical  writ- 
ings, either  the  authors  themselves,  or  the  collections  of 
Schoettgen,  Lightfoot,  and  others  who  have  made  selections 
of  the  most  eligible  places  in  those  writings  which  are  avail- 
able for  the  commentator ;  from  translations  of  the  Indian 
mythologists,  lawgivers,  moralists,  and  poets ;  and  from  a 
whole  library  of  historians,  naturalists,  travelers,  and 
writers  on  the  archaeology  of  the  Oriental  nations.  When 
we  consider  that  this  great  undertaking  was  begun,  continued, 
and  ended  by  one  man,  and  that  man  engaged  in  the  zealous 
and  faithful  discharge  of  so  many  public  duties ;  instead  of 
reasonably  complaining  that  here  and  there  it  has  a  blem 
ish,  or  that  its  general  plan  is  not  in  all  respects  filled  up  as 
completely  as  could  be  desired,  our  wonder  is  rather  excited 
that  he  should  have  brought  it  so  far  as  he  did  toward  per- 
fection. The  Commentary  is  not  equal  through  all  its  parts. 
On  some  books  he  is  more  diffuse  and  effective  than  on 
others.  The  Pentateuch  and  the  Gospels  are  done  well ; 
and  so  are  the  apostolical  Epistles.  On  the  historical  books, 
also,  he  is  in  general  satisfactory.  But  on  the  prophetic 
portions  of  the  word  of  God  he  commonly  fails.  This,  in 
one  way  or  another,  is  a  fault  common  with  nearly  all  our 
popular  expositors  of  the  Bible.  In  effect,  we  are  greatly 
in  want  of  a  Commentary,  which,  interpreting  the  oracles 
that  relate  to  the  future  destinies  of  our  world,  upon  sound 
principles,  avoiding  the  rationalistic  tendencies  of  the  spirit- 
ualizing school  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  extravagances  of 
the  ultra-millenarians  on  the  other,  shall  be  worthy  of  the 
present  advanced  stage  made  in  the  study  of  prophetical 
theology. 

But,  in  comparison  with  the  substantial  excellences  of  the 
work,  these  defects  appear  almost  inconsiderable.    Its  lumin- 


372  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

ous  expositions  of  the  Law  and  the  Gospel ;  its  earnest  and 
forcible  appeals  to  the  conscience  of  the  sinner  and  the  un- 
believer ;  its  rich  counsels  for  the  well-understood  wants  of 
the  Christian's  inner  life ;  its  endless  exhibitions  of  general 
knowledge,  and  its  valuable  aids  to  the  students  of  those 
holy  tongues  in  which  revelation  took  its  first  recorded 
forms  ;  all  will  render  this  book  the  companion  and  the  coun- 
selor of  multitudes  as  long  as  the  English  language  may 
endure.  The  man  who  accomplished  it  achieved  immortal- 
ity, his  name  having  become  identified  with  an  indestructible 
monument  of  learning  and  religion  : 

"  jEre  perennius, 

Begaliqm  situ  pyramidum  altins  ; 
Quod  non  imber  edax,  non  Aquilo  impotens 
Possit  diruere,  aut  innumerabilis 
Annorum  series,  etfuga  temporum." 


BOOK  IIL-EYENING. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

THE  ELDER  REVERED  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

TIME  glides  on,  and  moves  so  insensibly  that  the  shadows 
of  the  departing  day  come  on  many  of  us  unawares.  The 
lapse  of  years  beguiles  man  of  his  strength,  as  the  autumnal 
winds  rob  the  woods  of  their  foliage.  The  change  may  be 
slow,  but  it  is  sure ;  and  the  process,  imperceptible  for  a 
while,  becomes  apparent  enough  in  its  effects. 

But  he  who  enjoys  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  Gospel  is 
not  dismayed  by  these  tokens  of  decay  ;  he  connects  them 
with  the  purposes  of  the  unalterable  will  which  decrees  that 
in  this  way  man  shall  throw  off  what  is  corruptible  in  his 
nature,  that  mortality  may  be  swallowed  up  of  life.  The 
Divine  pledges  of  this  blessed  consummation  fill  him  with 
expectations  which  contribute  to  render  the  latest  days  of 
his  earthly  life  the  most  serene.  He  gives  himself  to  the 
work  of  preparation,  and  waits.  Meanwhile  all  is  tranquil. 
What  Jean  Paul  Richter  says  of  himself  in  his  last  days,  the 
Christian  ought  to  say  without  misgiving :  "  I  make  ready 
for  my  journey,  and  take  leave  of  the  many  companions  I 
have  loved.  Strangely  mingles  the  future  with  the  present 
in  my  soul,  while  maturity  passes  away  into  age.  Never- 
theless the  cloudless  evening  sky  spreads  itself  out  in  rose- 
ate glory."* 

So  it  was  with  Adam  Clarke.  His  last  days  were  his 
*  Biographic,  6*te  Epistd. 


374  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

best.  "Mark  the  perfect  man,  and  behold  the  upright;  for 
the  end  of  that  man  is  peace."  In  resuming  our  narrative 
we  must  remind  the  reader  of  the  pressure  of  bodily  infirm- 
ity brought  on  by  excessive  exhaustion,  under  which  Dr. 
Clarke  was  obliged  to  write  these  admonitory  words : 
"  Matters  are  come  to  this  issue ;  if  I  do  not  at  once  get 
from  many  of  my  vocations,  I  shall  soon  be  incapable  of 
prosecuting  any.  I  must  hide  my  head  in  the  country,  or  it 
will  be  shortly  hidden  in  the  grave."  It  was  in  this  time  of 
extreme  necessity  that  Providence  opened  the  way  to  such  a 
retreat,  in  which  he  could  repair  for  a  time  his  wasted  con- 
stitution, without  ceasing  altogether  from  those  mental  and 
religious  activities  which  had  become  essential  to  his  enjoy- 
ment of  life.  Millbrook,  a  compact  little  estate  about  ten 
miles  from  Liverpool,  was  offered  to  him  on  conditions  so 
liberal,  and  accompanied  with  such  munificence  on  the  part 
of  the  proprietor,  that  he  was  enabled  to  make  it  his  own, 
and  thither,  after  some  time  spent  in  rebuilding  the  house, 
he  repaired  with  his  family  in  September,  1815. 

His  frame  of  mind  on  this  occasion  is  intimated  in  a  let- 
ter to  Mr.  Boyd,  in  which  he  says :  "  That  I  shall  leave 
London,  as  a  place,  without  regret,  I  am  certain ;  but  it  will 
not  be  so  with  respect  to  many  who  are  in  it.  I  do  not  like 
to  be  put  out  of  the  way  of  old  friends ;  and,  as  to  forming 
new  ones,  that  is  nearly  out  of  the  question.  So  I  must 
take  care  to  keep  up  a  good  understanding  with  myself, 
which  I  cannot  do  without  being  on  good  terms  with  my 
God ;  and  on  those  terms  I  cannot  be,  without  having  at  all 
times  a  conscience  sprinkled  with  the  atoning  blood." 

This  new  arrangement  in  his  temporal  condition  did  not 
interrupt  Dr.  Clarke's  public  relation  to  the  Methodist  min- 
istry. His  name  stood  on  the  Minutes  as  one  of  the 
preachers  of  a  neighboring  circuit,  in  which  he  fulfilled  the 
duties  assigned  him;  lending,  too,  his  powerful  aid  to  the 
interests  of  Methodism  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  At 
home,  he  revived  the  habits  of  his  youth  in  horticulture  and 
the  tillage  of  the  field,  to  the  great  improvement  both  of  the 


THE  ELDER  REVERED  IN  THE  CHURCH.        375 

property  he  had  purchased,  and  of  his  own  health  in  body 
and  mind.  Nor  was  he  inattentive  to  the  moral  culture  of 
the  neighborhood.  The  rustic  people  among  whom  his  lot 
was  now  cast  were,  most  of  them,  nominally  Roman  Cath- 
olics ;  ignorant,  poor,  and  ill  cared  for.  He  lost  no  time  in 
preparing  a  small  chapel  contiguous  to  his  house,  where  the 
Gospel  was  preached  in  plain  words,  and  in  a  friendly,  lov- 
ing spirit ;  and  this  means  of  usefulness  was  supplemented 
by  a  Sunday  school,  attended  by  both  Protestant  and  Rom- 
anist children,  who  were  instructed  by  the  members  of  the 
family,  aided  by  the  mistress  of  the  village  school.  In 
time,  the  good  effects  of  these  measures  were  shown  in  the 
moral  and  domestic  improvement  of  the  neighborhood. 

Dr.  Clarke  had  that  year  been  requested  by  the  Presi- 
dent, the  Rev.  John  Barber,  to  preside  at  the  Irish  Confer- 
ence; and  upon  the  death  of  that  good  and  upright  man, 
which  occurred  suddenly  in  the  course  of  the  year,  the  lead- 
ing ministers  of  the  Connection  united  in  urging  the  doctor 
to  undertake  the  mission  which  their  departed  friend  had  as- 
signed him.  He  complied  with  this  request,  and  went  in 
June,  by  way  of  Scotland.  His  visit  to  the  Irish  brethren 
at  this  Conference  proved  unusually  important,  as^  a  junc- 
ture had  occurred  in  their  affairs  in  which  his  influence  and 
counsel  were  of  the  greatest  service.  The  Irish  Societies 
had  been  much  disturbed  on  the  old  question  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  in  their  own  chapels.  Many  of  the  trustees  contin- 
ued adverse  to  this  practice,  and  were  disposed  to  use  all 
the  legal  power  they  had,  to  prevent  it.  Two  documents 
of  an  intimidating  tone  had  been  sent  into  the  Conference ; 
one  from  the  attorney-general,  and  another,  expressed  in 
strongly  threatening  terms,  from  the  trustees  themselves. 
Dr.  Clarke  dispelled  the  fears  which  these  menaces  had  pro- 
duced in  the  minds  of  some  of  the  preachers  ;  and  the  issue 
of  a  long  debate  was  a  vote  that  the  wishes  of  the  Societies 
for  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  from  their  own  min- 
isters should  be  complied  with.  Several  points  in  the  ad- 
dress Dr.  Clarke  gave  on  this  occasion  are  of  consequence 


376  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

in  relation  to  Methodism  in  its  widest  range.  For  ex- 
ample: 

"  1.  Mr.  Wesley  had  no  plan,  except  that  of  following  the 
openings  of  Providence ;  had  he  followed  a  plan,  it  would 
have  been  of  man,  and  not  of  God.  Our  doctrine  is  from 
the  revelation  of  God,  and  our  discipline  likewise.  Mr. 
Wesley  was  only  the  instrument. 

"  2.  In  following  Providence,  Mr.  Wesley  was  compelled 
to  do  many  things  opposed  to  his  prejudices :  these,  I  we!  1 
know,  were  of  the  High-Church  character.  It  was  according 
to  his  great  principle  of  action  that  he  ordained  Dr.  Coke 
for  America,  as  he  did  others  for  Scotland.  He  foresaw 
that  the  Methodists  would  be  a  great  people,  and  therefore 
ordained  preachers  to  keep  up  the  spirit  of  the  Church  of 
England  ;  but  Providence  never  intended  that  any  individ- 
ual should  be  a  successor  to  Mr.  Wesley.  When  he  died 
Dr.  Coke  came  to  Dublin,  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
Irish  Methodists  ;  but  he,  (Mr.  Clarke,)  being  then  in  Dub- 
lin, opposed  it.  On  the  same  subject  there  was  in  England 
a  competition  between  Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Mather,  which 
was  overruled  by  the  appointment  of  District  Meetings. 

"3.  The  introduction  of  the  sacraments  originated  in  the 
demands  of  the  people.  They  urged  them  at  the  British 
Conference.  By  not  yielding  to  their  earnest  entreaties,  we 
sacrificed  too  many  members.  When  the  plan  of  pacifica- 
tion was  at  length  made,  (by  which  the  sacraments  were  in- 
troduced under  defined  conditions,)  the  consequences  were 
blessed  ones." 

4.  As  to  the  present  state  of  Methodism,  Dr.  Clarke 
stated  that  he  was  competent  to  judge  of  its  spirituality  and 
prosperity.  "I  have  been  twice  President  of  the  British 
Conference ;  and  in  the  grand  climactcrical  year  of  Meth- 
odism all  its  great  offices  were  in  my  hands.  I  had  access 
also  to  government,  knew  its  sentiments  of  Methodism,  and 
had  full  evidence  that  it  had  not  lost  its  character  or  influ- 
ence. I  have  met  more  classes  in  my  circuit  than  any  other 
man,  and  have  seen  no  loss  of  spirituality.  I  will  not  make 


THE  ELDER  REVERED  IN  THE  CHURCH.        377 

invidious  comparisons  between  the  Methodists  in  England 
and  Ireland ;  in  both  they  are  the  children  of  my  God  and 
Father;  but  this  I  will  say,  from  perfect  acquaintance  with 
the  subject,  that  they  have  in  England  more  grace  and  more 
stability  since  the  introduction  of  the  sacrament  than 
before." 

And  with  more  particular  reference  to  the  Irish  preachers, 
he  added : 

"  I  have  had  access  to  the  inmost  archives  of  the  State, 
(on  affairs  relating  to  Ireland,)  where  their  characters  were 
properly  appreciated.  In  a  particular  conversation  which  I 
had  with  Lord  Sidmouth  and  Mr.  Perceval,  they  spoke  most 
honorably  of  their  usefulness  in  the  time  of  the  Rebellion. 
They  have  been  bulwarks  to  the  Church  itself,  against  the 
attacks  of  Popery  and  other  enemies." 

In  relation  to  these  matters,  Dr.  Clarke  wrote  about  this 
time :  "  I  know  Methodism  better  than  any  man  in  Ireland  ; 
and  can  say  that  preaching  in  Church  hours,  and  the  sacra- 
ments from  the  hands  of  our  own  preachers,  have  been 
marked  by  the  most  distinguished  approbation  of  God. 
The  Methodists  in  England  are  a  thousand  times  more  at- 
tached to  the  Church  of  England  and  her  service  than  they 
ever  were  before ;  and  the  method  which  we  were  before 
taking  to  drive  them  to  the  Church,  was  driving  them,  and 
is  now  driving  those  of  Ireland,  into  Dissenting  congre- 
gations. Our  usefulness  to  the  Church  is  now  greater 
than  ever." 

In  parting  with  the  Conference,  he  urged  the  Irish  minis- 
ters to  be  steadfast  and  unmovable  as  to  the  ground  they  had 
now  taken  with  respect  to  the  sacraments.  "  My  advice  to 
you  all  is,  look  up  to  God,  and  keep  close  together ;  never 
think  of  measuring  back  your  steps  to  trustee  craft  again. 
Give  up  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  when  you  go 
to  drink  the  new  wine  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Let  neither 
fear  nor  flattery  induce  you  to  it  one  moment  sooner.  Had 
you  had  it  twenty  years  ago,  you  would  have  been  doubly 
more  numerous,  and  doubly  more  holy.  God  has  broken 


378  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

your  chain ;  if  you  mend  it,  or  suffer  others  to  do  so,  you 
will  have  his  curse.  If  the  genuine  Methodists  of  Ireland 
stand  fast  in  their  fiery  trial,  God  will  make  you  both  great 
and  glorious.  Look  for  your  help  from  him.  Do  not  sup- 
pose that  any  man's  money  is  necessary  to  the  support  of 
Christ's  cause ;  for  '  the  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness 
thereof.' " 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1818  Dr.  Clarke  was  actively 
engaged  in  several  parts  of  the  country  in  opening  chapels, 
preaching  anniversary  sermons,  and  helping  the  cause  of  for- 
eign missions  by  setting  their  claims  before  assemblies  who 
gathered  in  successive  thousands,  attracted  both  by  the 
goodness  of  the  object  and  the  celebrity  of  the  advocate. 
While  he  was  in  London  at  the  anniversary  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  Missionary  Society  this  year,  an  incident  occurred 
which  was  fraught  with  a  lasting  satisfaction  to  his  mind — 
his  compliance  with  a  request,  made  to  him  by  some  emi- 
nent persons,  to  take  under  his  care  and  instruction  two 
Indian  priests  who  had  come  to  England  in  quest  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  God  and  of  his  Christ. 

"  While  on  the  platform,"  says  he,  in  a  note  to  Mrs. 
Clarke,  "  I  received  a  letter  from  Sir  Alexander  Johnstone, 
then  within  sight  of  land,  on  his  return  from  the  Island  of 
Ceylon  ;  and  in  about  half  an  hour  another  note  was  handed 
to  me  from  the  same  gentleman,  stating  his  actual  arrival, 
and  adding  a  wish  to  see  me  as  soon  as  possible.  On  the 
following  day  I  had  an  interview  with  him,  when  he  told 
me  that  he  had  brought  with  him  two  high-priests  of  Budd- 
hoo,  who  had  left  their  country  and  friends,  and  put 
themselves  before  the  mast,  exposing  themselves  to  all  kinds 
of  privations,  in  order  to  come  here  to  be  instructed  in  the 
truths  of  Christianity ;  that  he  had  paid  their  passage,  but, 
in  order  to  try  their  faith  and  sincerity,  had  kept  them  in 
the  meanest  place,  and  at  the  greatest  distance  from  himself 
during  the  whole  voyage." 

It  appears  that  Sir  Alexander  was  at  that  moment  in  un- 
certainty as  to  what  was  to  be  done  to  give  these  young 


THE  ELDER  REVERED  IN  THE  CHURCH.        879 

men  the  protection  they  needed,  combined  with  that  teach- 
ing, in  the  hope  of  receiving  which  they  had  encountered  the 
terrors  of  the  great  deep.  He  asked  the  Doctor's  advice. 
"  I  think,"  was  the  reply,  "  our  missionary  committee  will 
take  them ;  but  if  not,  I  will  do  honor  to  their  motives, 
trust  in  the  Lord,  and  take  the  whole  burden  upon  myself." 
This  gave  great  satisfaction  to  Sir  Alexander,  who  assured 
him  that  he  should  not  bear  the  burden  alone.  The  Doctor 
writes : 

"  May  10.  I  have  to-day  received  the  two  priests  from  on 
board  the  vessel  at  Blackwall,  and  will  give  you  a  little  de- 
scription of  them. 

"  Munhi  Rathana  is  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  and  has 
been  high-priest  eight  years.  He  was  educated,  as  was  the 
other,  from  youth,  for  the  priesthood.  Dherma  Rama  is 
twenty-five  years  old,  and  has  been  between  six  and  seven 
years  in  the  priesthood.  They  are  cousins ;  about  five  feet 
six  inches,  and  quite  black  ;  they  have  fine  eyes,  regular  fea- 
tures, and  the  younger,  a  remarkably  fine  nose.  There  is  a 
gentleness  and  intelligence  in  their  faces  which  greatly  im- 
pressed me.  Their  hair,  which  is  beginning  to  grow,  (for, 
as  priests,  they  are  always  shaven,)  is  jet-black.  Their  cloth- 
ing is  imposing  in  appearance.  It  consists  of  three  parts  : 
a  sort  of  tunic  or  brocade,  with  gold  and  silver  flowers  ;  upon 
this  they  have  a  sash,  that  goes  round  their  waist ;  and,  over 
the  whole,  a  yellow  garment.  .  .  .  They  have  now  European 
shoes  and  stockings.  One  of  them  has  a  screen  made  of  silk 
to  which  there  is  a  massive  handle  of  ivory.  This,  as  high- 
priest,  he  used  in  the  temple  before  his  face,  while  perform- 
ing the  recitations  from  their  sacred  books.  They  eat  spar- 
ingly, but  refuse  nothing  placed  before  them  of  solid  food, 
and  take  no  fluid  but  milk  or  water." 

The  missionary  committee  wished  to  put  them  entirely 
under  the  Doctor's  care.  He  accepted  the  charge,  took 
them  to  Bristol,  where  he  had  to  preach  for  the  missions, 
and  then  conducted  them  to  Millbrook.  The  characteristics 
of  these  two  Asiatics,  under  the  immediate  observation  of 


380  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

the  Doctor  for  nearly  two  years,  were  such  as  engaged  his 
affection,  and  called  forth  expressions  of  unequivocal 
approval. 

"  It  will  give  you  satisfaction,"  says  he,  writing  to  the 
committee,  "  to  know  that  they  still  behave  well,  and  are 
gentle  and  submissive.  They  are  very  diligent  in  their 
studies,  and  have  an  insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge,  particu- 
larly religious  knowledge,  as  well  as  for  reading  and  writing 
English  ;  which  is  of  vast  importance,  as  I  am  satisfied  that 
the  English  language,  under  God,  is  the  key  of  their  salva- 
tion. They  are  both  men  of  erudition  in  their  way,  with, 
as  far  as  I  can  judge,  a  commanding  eloquence.  They  are 
deeply  read  in  the  ethics  of  the  Brahmin  and  Buddhoo  sys- 
tems. In  these  respects  their  acquirements  are  immense. 
I  have  myself  read  some  works  of  this  kind  ;  and  well  know- 
ing the  subtle  and  specious  reasons  which  both  those  sys- 
tems can  bring  forth  in  behalf  of  their  ethics  and  philosophy, 
I  do  not  a  little  wonder  at  the  subjection  of  these  men's 
minds  to  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.  I  see  them  at  the  feet  of 
Christ." 

After  a  residence  of  twenty-two  months  at  Millbrook,  in 
the  course  of  which  Dr.  Clarke  had  become  entirely  sure  of 
their  sincerity,  and  satisfied  with  their  proficience  in  the 
truths  of  Christianity,  he  complied  with  their  solemn  request 
and  admitted  them  to  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  This  took 
place  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  congregation,  in  Bruns- 
wick Chapel,  Liverpool,  on  Sunday,  March  12th,  1820.  Af- 
ter the  Liturgy,  the  Doctor,  before  proceeding  to  the  ordi- 
nance, gave  an  account  of  the  previous  life  of  the  two  cate- 
chumens, and  detailed  such  circumstances  of  their  recent 
studies  and  experience  as  had  satisfied  him  that  they  were 
now  fully  eligible  for  admission  to  the  privileges  of  the 
Church  by  the  rite  about  to  be  administered.  He  then  left 
the  desk,  and  went  to  the  font  where  they  were  standing. 
The  congregation  joined  in  the  hymn, 

"  Father,  Sou,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
la  solemn  power  come  down,"  etc, 


THE  ELDER  REVERED  IN  THE  CHURCH.        381 

When  the  Doctor  came  to  the  lines, — 

"  See  these  sinful  worms  of  earth, 
Bless  to  them  the  cleansing  flood," 

he  laid  his  hands  upon  their  heads  ;  the  two  priests  burst  into 
tears,  and  the  whole  assembly  seemed  to  feel,  in  deathlike 
stillness,  that  the  power  of  the  Highest  was  indeed  overshad- 
owing them.  The  office  for  the  baptism  of  adults  was  then 
recited  with  heartfelt  fervor  ;  the  elder  candidate  receiving 
the  name  of  Adam  Sree  Goonah  Munhi  Rathana ;  and  the 
younger,  that  of  Alexander  Dherma  Rama. 

During  the  service,  the  latter,  who,  through  fear  of  death, 
had  long  been  subject  to  bondage,  had  that  fear  entirely  re- 
moved ;  and  the  elder,  Adam,  on  returning  to  his  room,  fell 
prostrate  on  the  ground,  and  spent  a  long  time,  weeping,  in 
prayer  and  praise. 

A  few  weeks  after  this  event,  having  completed  the  pur- 
pose for  which  they  had  come  to  England,  they  grew  anxious 
to  return,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  that  object. 
One  thing  ought  not  to  be  omitted,  as  showing  their  disinter- 
ested sincerity ;  they  declined  to  receive  presents.  Among 
other  offerings,  Mr.  Sherburn,  of  the  plate-glass  manufac- 
tory at  Ravenhead,  sent  them  two  fine  toilet-glasses.  They 
admired  them,  but  were  silent.  Dr.  Clarke  spoke  to  them 
pointedly  of  the  kindness  and  attention  of  Mr.  Sherburn 
in  making  them  the  presents  ;  when  Dherma,  after  some 
hesitation,  said,  "  We  are  obliged  to  Mr.  Sherburn,  but  we 
will  not  have  them.  We  came  to  England  without  money, 
without  goods,  without  clothes,  except  our  priests'  garments ; 
we  will  take  nothing  back  with  us  but  one  coat  apiece,  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  books  you  have  promised 
us.  No,  if  God  give  it,"  (i.  e.,  assist  us,)  "  we  will  take 
no  presents  ;  we  will  receive  nothing  but  the  Gospel  of 
Christ ;  for  that  alone  we  came."* 

They  returned  to  Ceylon  in  company  with  Sir  Richard 

0  Many  particulars  about  these  two  converts  may  be  found  in  the  twelfth 
volume  of  Dr.  Clarke's  Works. 


382  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLABKE. 

Ottley,  (who  was  going  out  to  that  island  as  judge,)  carrying 
with  them  the  devout  and  loving  wishes  of  their  revered 
friend,  who  gave  expression  to  the  solidity  of  his  good 
opinion  of  them  in  a  formal  certificate,  which  was  accompa- 
nied by  an  official  letter  on  the  part  of  Lord  Bathurst,  ad- 
dressed in  their  behalf  to  the  authorities  in  Ceylon. 

Some  months  after,  Dr.  Clarke  received  from  them  the 
intelligence  of  their  safe  arrival.  "  My  dear  father,"  writes 
the  elder,  Adam  Rathana,  "  I  am  here,  comfortable  and 
happy ;  however,  I  will  tell  you  my  good  generally.  Since 
we  sailed  from  England,  we  have  every  Sunday  had  prayers, 
and  sometimes  a  sermon ;  every  morning  and  evening  we 
have  met  in  Sir  Richard's  cabin  to  read  the  Bible  and  pray  ; 
at  times  some  of  the  other  passengers  have  joined.  We 
have  three  Sundays  had  the  Lord's  Supper ;  indeed,  my 
mind  sometimes  rejoices  concerning  my  soul. 

"  Every  day  Judge  Ottley  orders  us  to  go  to  him  for  im- 
provement; indeed,  by  his  teaching  we  have  got  great 
knowledge ;  also  he  is  very  kind  to  us.  Your  book  teaches 
us  great  knowledge  ;  he  talks  to  us  out  of  it,  and  my  mind 
is  greatly  satisfied  with  him  all  the  time.  .  .  .  On  the  30th 
of  October  we  arrived  at  Colombo  ;  the  governor  very  kind 
to  me,  and  put  -me  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.,  who  came  from 
England,  colonial  chaplain.  With  him  I  study  Christian 
religion,  and  I  hope  in  a  short  time  to  be  able  to  preach  the 
salvation  of  Jesus  Christ.  When  I  was  with  you,  I  told 
you  I  wish  to  have  some  power  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
hc;it!icn  people.  My  wish,  I  thank  God,  he  has  done  forme  ; 
and  I  have  now  exceeding  happiness  in  receiving  this  great 
blessing.  My  dear  father,  I  will  never  forget  you.  You  cut 
me  off  some  of  your  hair,  and  when  I  think  of  you,  I  take 
it  in  my  hand,  and,  seeing  that,  my  mind  is  full  of  sorrow, 
wanting  you.  My  daily  prayer  is  for  you  and  your  family." 

The  subsequent  life  of  these  cousins  gave  good  evidence 
of  their  true-hearted  establishment  in  the  faith.  The  elder 
devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  the  Church,  and  received  an 
appointment  as  a  chaplain;  and  the  other  adopted  the  life 


THE   ELDER   REVERED   IN  THE  CHURCH.        383 

of  a  civilian,  and  became  a  mohunderam  or  inferior  magis- 
trate. I  met  only  lately,  in  a  periodical  of  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,*  with  an  extract  of  a  letter 
from  the  present  bishop  of  Colombo,  who  mentions  the 
pleasing  fact  that  a  son  of  the  elder  had  just  then  been  or- 
dained a  deacon  of  the  Church.  His  lordship  says  :  "  It  was 
gratifying  to  me  last  Sunday  to  admit  to  the  diaconate 
another  native  laborer,  after  a  probation  of  more  than  three 
years,  in  the  service  of  the  society,  at  Badulla,  under  the 
Rev.  E.  Mooyart,  of  Newera  Ellia.  His  name  is  George 
Adam  Rathana.  He  is  the  son  of  a  converted  Buddhist 
priest,  who  was  some  years  ago  conveyed  to  England  by  the 
late  Sir  A.  Johnstone,  and  confided  to  the  care  of  Dr.  Adam 
Clarke  for  Christian  education.  I  have  known  him  long, 
having  received  him  as  the  first  divinity  student  in  St. 
Thomas's  College,  where  he  gained  the  esteem  and  confi- 
dence of  all." 

Reverting  to  the  tenor  of  Dr.  Clarke's  life  at  Millbrook, 
we  find  him  celebrating  the  coronation  of  King  George  IV., 
by  a  kind  of  domestic  fete  with  his  family  and  their  neigh- 
bors. "  We  brought  all  our  tenants  together,  even  to  the 
least  of  their  children,  and  gave  them  a  dinner.  They  ate  a 
world  of  beef,  pies,  pudding,  and  cheese,  besides  half  a  bushel 
of  currants  and  cherries.  To  our  work-people  I  also  gave  a 
holiday,  and  paid  each  man  his  day's  wages :  and,  when  all 
was  over,  I  gave  each  child  a  penny ;  all  above  eight  years 
old,  a  sixpence ;  and  to  every  grown  person,  a  shilling.  We 
sang  and  prayed,  and  afterward  I  dismissed  them.  They 
were  as  happy  as  they  could  be.  Our  union-jack  was  fly- 
ing all  day  ;  at  sunset  we  struck  our  flag,  and  heartily  prayed, 
morning,  noon,  and  night,  for  the  king." 

The  Conference  had  voted  a  loyal  Address  to  the  new 
monarch,  and  Dr.  Clarke  was  appointed  to  negotiate  with 
the  Home  Secretary  about  the  time  and  manner  of  pre- 
senting it.  Lord  Sid  mouth  informed  him  that  the  Ad- 
*  "  The  Mission  Field,"  May,  1857. 


384  LIFE  OF    ADAM  CLARKE. 

dress  might  be  presented  at  a  levee,  by  a  deputation,  or  by 
an  individual.  As  such  an  opportunity  was  not  likely  to 
occur  for  some  months,  his  lordship  kindly  offered  to  lay  it 
himself  before  His  Majesty,  taking  occasion  to  remark  in 
the  same  letter  that  he  knew  "  the  influence  of  the  Wesleyan 
Methodists  to  be  extensive." 

In  February,  1821,  died  that  great  preacher  and  expositor 
of  the  word  of  God,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Benson.  Dr.  Clarke, 
standing  at  the  side  of  his  death-bed,  heard  the  theologian's 
last  testimony :  "  My  hope  of  salvation  is,  BY  GRACE  THROUGH 
FAITH/"  On  the  occasion  of  the  funeral,  at  City  Road,  Dr. 
Clarke  delivered  a  powerful  address  to  the  congregation 
which  crowded  the  spacious  chapel. 

Among  many  journeys  this  year  he  visited  Epworth,  to 
preach  for  the  chapel.  With  his  veneration  for  the  family 
of  the  Wesley  s,  the  spot  on  which  he  then  found  himself  was 
felt  to  be  classic  ground.  "  With  reverence  and  strong  re- 
ligious gratification,"  he  went  over  the  old  rectory,  accom- 
panied by  the  resident  clergyman ;  and  then  proceeded  to 
the  simple,  clean  little  church,  hard  by  which  was  "  a  syca- 
more tree  which  was  planted  by  the  hand  of  old  Samuel 
Wesley.  I  brought  away  a  piece  of  the  outer  bark.  I  have 
got  a  pair  of  fire-tongs  which  belonged  to  him,  and  which  were 
bought  at  the  family  sale.  There  is  also  an  old  clock,  which 
I  rather  think  I  shall  have,  and  for  which  I  left  a  commission." 

In  these  widely  extended  journeys  for  the  promotion  of 
great  charities  for  time  and  eternity,  he  was  everywhere 
hailed  with  a  hearty  religious  welcome,  and  heard  with  an 
almost  unexampled  reverence  by  the  rich  and  the  poor,  who 
met  together  to  receive  from  the  lips  of  him  who  kept 
knowledge  the  words  of  eternal  peace. 

At  the  Conference  of  1822,  held  in  London,  his  brethren 
in  the  ministry  offered  him  the  token  of  their  own  heartfelt 
veneration  by  electing  him  to  the  presidential  chair.  This 
was  the  third  time  that  honor  was  conferred  upon  him ;  a 
circumstance  which  had  not  hitherto  occurred  in  the  annals 
of  the  body.  Dr.  Coke  had  been  president  twice ;  and  since 


THE   ELDER  REVERED  IN  THE  CHURCH.        385 

those  days  two  eminent  men,  Drs.  Jabez  Bunting  and  Robert 
Newton,  have  held  the  office  four  times  each.  But  in  the 
present  case  the  distinction  was  unique,  and  was  no  doubt 
intended  as  a  homage  paid  to  extraordinary  virtue  and 
worth. 

At  this  Conference  initiatory  proceedings  were  entered 
upon  toward  a  mission  to  the  Zetland  Islands,  a  work  in 
which,  as  we  shall  have  to  record,  Dr.  Clarke  took  a  personal 
and  a  predominant  interest.  His  official  visit  to  the  Irish 
Conference  was  made  in  connection  with  a  tour  in  Scotland, 
and  in  several  neighborhoods  of  his  native  island.  In  the 
course  of  these  peregrinations  he  found  himself  once  more 
among  the  scenes  of  his  childhood.  He  entered  the  church 
where  he  was  baptized.  "  I  went,"  says  he,  "  within  the 
communion-rail.  With  silent  solemnity  and  awe,  I  there, 
in  the  presence  of  Him  whose  I  am,  and  whom  I  serve,  men- 
tally and  in  a  deep  spirit  of  prayer,  took  upon  myself  those 
vows  which  had  so  long  before  been  made  in  my  name  and 
on  my  behalf." 

Standing  by  the  graves  of  some  of  the  members  of  his 
family  in  the  adjoining  place  of  the  dead,  he  made  the  re- 
flection :  "  Here  lie  several  of  my  ancestors ;  and  I  go  to  lie 
most  probably  in  another  land,  and  shall  not,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, be  gathered  to  my  fathers.  But  I  too  shall  be  found, 
when  all  the  quick  and  dead  stand  before  the  Lord ;  and 
wheresoever  my  dust  may  be  scattered,  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  shall  call  it  together,  and  I  shall  stand  in  my  lot  at  the 
end  of  the  days.  May  I  then  be  found  of  him  in  peace, 
without  spot  and  without  blame,  and  have  an  entrance  into 
the  holiest  through  the  blood  of  Jesus  !" 

In  Ireland  he  found  the  societies  still  in  an  uneasy  con- 
dition. At  a  public  meeting,  convened  in  Belfast,  "  one  pro- 
posing the  question  to  me,  '  Is  Methodism  now  what  it  has 
been1?'  I  answered  it  in  a  way  very  different  from  what 
was,  I  believe,  expected,  and  intended  by  it:  'No:  it  is 
more  rational,  more  stable,  more  consistent,  more  holy, 
more  useful  to  the  comm.ynjty,  and  a  greater  blessing  to 


386  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

the  world. at  large.'     And  all  this  I  found  no  difficulty  in 
proving."  * 

It  had  been  published  for  him  to  preach  at  Bandon  at 
twelve  o'clock ;  and  he  proceeded  thither  for  that  purpose. 
His  entrance  into  the  town  was  greeted  as  if  he  had  come 
(as  indeed  he  had)  an  embassador  from  a  king.  The  street 
was  lined  with  a  multitude  waiting  his  arrival,  many  of 
whom  had  come  from  various  towns,  and  some  from  a  dis- 
tance of  thirty  miles.  On  reaching  Dublin,  he  presided  at 
the  Conference ;  in  the  course  of  which  the  Dublin  mission- 
ary meeting  had  the  long  remembered  advantage  of  his 
counsels  and  exhortations. 

The  Irish  Conference  is  preliminary  to  that  in  England ; 
and  scarcely  had  the  Doctor  arrived  at  home  from  a  journey 
of  two  thousand  miles,  before  he  was  again  on  the  way  to 
the  latter,  which  was  held  that  year  in  Sheffield.  He  once 
more  gave  up  the  seal  of  office  to  his  old  friend,  the  Rev. 
Henry  Moore,  and  concluded  the  duties  of  his  presidency 
with  a  charge  at  the  ordination  of  the  junior  ministers,  dis- 
tinguished by  a  powerful  and  solemn  unction,  while  he  ex- 
horted them  to  "  take  heed  to  themselves  and  to  the  doc- 
trine," and  to  "  continue  in  these  things,"  so  as  to  save  them- 
selves and  those  who  should  hear  them.  The  official  sermon, 
which  he  delivered  at  the  usual  time,  was  on  a  theme  which  ' 
called  out  all  the  powers  of  his  sanctified  mind :  "  God  is  a 
Spirit;  and  they  that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth." 

It  was  at  this  Conference  that  Ebenezer  Chapel,  a  large 
Gothic  structure  which  the  Methodists  of  Sheffield  had  lately 
erected,  was  dedicated  for  Divine  service ;  and  Dr.  Clarke 

*  On  his  rontc  to  Ireland  by  the  north  he  found  the  General  Assembly 
in  session  at  Edinburgh :  when  he  took  the  opportunity  of  witnessing  the 
manner  in  which  that  reverend  body  conducts  its  proceedings.  Dr. 
Clarke  could  not  help  drawing  in  his  own  mind  a  contrast  between  the 
rigid  formality  with  which  the  business  was  transacted,  and  the  genial 
yet  well-ordered  freedom  of  the  "conversations  between  the  Wcsleyun 
ministers  nt  their  Annual  Conference;"  and  expressed  it,  on  leaving  the 
eliireli,  liy  whispering  t<>  his  companion.  "  Methodism  forever!" 


THE  ELDER  REVERED  IN"  THE  CHURCH.       387 

was  the  morning  preacher.  Toward  the  conclusion  of 
the  sermon,  owing  to  some  false  alarm,  (created,  it  was 
thought,  for  a  wicked  purpose,)  one  of  those  panics  took 
place  which  have  been  too  often  attended  by  fatal  effects. 
But,  through  the  good  providence  of  God,  no  great  dis- 
aster occurred.  This  being  the  third  instance  of  the  kind 
in  which  a  simliar  shock  had  been  given  him,  the  Doctor 
expressed  a  resolution  to  preach  no  more  at  the  opening  of 
a  chapel. 

An  accident  which  befell  him  shortly  after  the  Conference 
had  a  bad  effect  on  his  health,  which  became  so  disordered 
as  to  lay  him  aside  for  a  time  altogether.  On  the  14th  of 
September,  he  takes  occasion  to  lament  that  he  was  too 
weak  to  repeat  even  the  Lord's  Prayer;  and  on  the  17th, 
that  he  could  not  speak  five  minutes  at  a  time — so  soon  is 
the  strength  of  the  most  vigorous  man  laid  low.  An  idea, 
which  had  been  present  with  him  some  time,  now  gained 
ground  in  his  mind  ;  namely,  that  a  residence  in  a  more 
southerly  part  of  England  would  be  more  conducive  to  his 
welfare.  This  was  strengthened  by  the  consideration  that 
his  family  were  then  nearly  all  settled  in  London.  He  now 
observes  that  he  should  be  glad  "  if  any  small  place,  from 
three  to  fifty  miles  from  London,  could  be  obtained ;" 
adding :  "  But  we  should  rather  be  thinking  of  our  last 
change,  than  of  making  another  removal."  An  indication 
was  given,  however,  of  his  resolve  to  migrate  from  the 
north,  by  the  appearing  of  his  name,  on  the  Minutes  of  the 
next  Conference,  in  connection  with  the  London  West  Cir- 
cuit. In  the  course  of  some  few  months,  an  advantageous 
offer  having  been  made  to  Dr.  Clarke  for  the  Millbrook 
property,  he  finally  disposed  of  it ;  and,  after  a  short  and 
intermediate  residence  at  Canonbury  Square,  Islington,  he 
took  up  his  last  earthly  sojourn  at  Haydon  Hall,  near  Pinner 
in  the  county  of  Middlesex.  In  this  salubrious  and  beauti- 
ful spot,  about  sixteen  miles  from  London — near  enough 
for  ordinary  convenience,  yet  sufficiently  secluded  for  retire- 
ment— the  Doctor  soon  felt  himself  at  home.  His  flagging 


388  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

health  recovered  much  of  its  wonted  energy  ;  and,  his  soul 
being  replenished  with  increase  of  grace,  he  dedicated  life 
anew  to  God  in  humble  dependence  on  that  preventing  and 
sustaining  power  which  alone  could  enable  him,  in  all  his 
works,  begun,  continued,  and  ended,  to  glorify  His  holy 
Name. 


HONORED  BY  THE  GREAT  AND  GOOD.     389 


CHAPTER   II. 

HONORED    BY  THE    GREAT   AND    GOOD. 

THE  fallen  heart  of  man  is  not  so  utterly  abandoned  and 
debased  as  to  have  lost  all  sensibility  to  the  praise  worthi- 
ness of  the  things  that  are  pure,  and  honest,  and  of  good 
report ;  for,  among  the  heathens  themselves,  the  wreath  was 
given  to  the  patriot,  and  shrines  and  statues  rose  to  the 
fame  of  the  wise  and  the  just.  Nor  does  Christianity  dis- 
countenance such  tributes  to  social  worth.  Religion  attests 
her  veneration  for  those  who  have  lived  for  the  public  good, 
by  inscribing  their  names  on  her  temples  ;  and  the  enlight- 
ened of  all  nations  speak  with  reverence  of  Westminster  Ab- 
bey, and  like  solemn  places,  as  spots  sacred  to  all  humanity. 
The  recollections  they  inspire  create  a  wholesome  influence 
on  society  at  large,  as  the  well-earned  honors  thus  awarded 
are  not  only  memorials  to  the  dead,  but  incentives  to  virtu- 
ous effort  among  the  living. 

The  true  Christian  has,  indeed,  a  higher  reward  in  view 
than  any  of  these  things  can  yield  him.  They  are  not  the 
recompense  to  which  he  aspires,  compared  with  which  the 
most  glittering  prizes  of  the  world  are  only  meteors  in  a 
changing  sky.  And  if,  instead  of  these  honorable  awards, 
dishonor  and  death  would  be  the  issue  of  his  efforts,  he 
would  labor  on,  in  the  promotion  of  human  welfare,  to  do 
the  will  of  God.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  his  fellow-men 
recognise  in  him  a  merit  which  calls  forth  some  tokens  of 
commendation,  he  delays  not  to  consecrate  that  tribute  "  to 
the  greater  glory  of  the  Most  High,"  by  employing  the  in- 
creasing influence  it  may  confer  upon  him,  as  a  talent  to  be 
improved  in  his  service,  and  to  his  praise. 

Adam  Clarke,  as  a  scholar  and  author,  met  with  as  great 


390  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

a  measure  of  scientific  and  literary  honors  as  fells  to  most 
men  in  the  republic  of  letters.  King  Solomon  has  written 
that  "  a  man  shall  be  commended  according  to  his  wisdom :" 
if  this  rule  hold  good,  as  it  did  in  the  instance  of  him  whose 
course  we  are  reviewing,  the  amplitude  of  the  laudatory 
testimonials  with  which  he  was  greeted  will  sufficiently 
prove  the  estimate  his  contemporaries  had  formed  of  him, 
as  one  of  the  master  spirits  of  the  intellectual  world. 

From  the  ancient  University  of  Aberdeen  he  had  received, 
in  1807,  the  diploma  of  Master  of  Arts.  The  application 
to  the  Faculty  for  its  conferment,  made  by  the  late  Profes- 
sor Person,  was  perfectly  unknown  to  Mr.  Clarke ;  who  as 
soon  as  he  became  aware  of  the  circumstance,  wrote  to  Mr. 
Porson  as  follows  :  "  It  is  only  within  a  few  hours  that  I 
have  been  informed  of  a  request  made  to  you  by  one  of  my 
friends  for  your  recommendation  to  King's  College,  Aber- 
deen. This  was  utterly  without  my  knowledge,  nor  had  I 
even  the  slightest  intimation  that  anything  of  the  kind  was 
projected.  I  have  such  high  notions  of  literary  merit,  and 
the  academical  distinctions  to  which  it  is  entitled,  that  I 
would  not  in  conscience  take,  or  cause  to  be  taken  in  my 
behal/,  any  step  to  possess  the  one,  or  to  assume  the  other. 
Everything  of  this  kind  should  come,  not  only  unbought, 
but  unsolicited.  I  should  as  soon  think  of  being  learned 
by  proxy,  as  of  procuring  academical  honors  by  influence  ; 
and,  could  one  farthing  purchase  me  the  highest  degree 
I  would  not  give  it.  Not  that  I  lightly  esteem  such  honors; 
I  believe  them,  when  given  through  merit,  next  to  those 
which  come  from  God ;  but  I  consider  them  misplaced 
when  conferred  in  consequence  of  recommendation  in  which 
the  person  concerned  has  any  part,  near  or  remote.  As  I 
wish  to  stand  as  high  as  justice  will  permit  in  your  good 
opinion,  and  as  I  should  justly  conclude  I  had  deservedly 
forfeited  it,  if  known  to  hunt  after  a  title,  I  deem  it  neces- 
sary, on  the  hint  I  have  received  of  this  matter,  to  trouble 
you  with  these  lines.  What  you  have  said  of  me  I  know 
not,  but  I  am  satisfied  you  would  say  nothing  but  what  is 


HONORED  BY  THE  GREAT  AND  GOOD.     391 

kind  and  just ;  and  to  deserve  and  to  have  the  smallest 
measure  of  the  approbation  of  a  man  \vho  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  republic  of  letters,  would  be  to  me  a  very 
high  gratification." 

The  faculty  of  King's  College  had  already  become  too 
well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Clarke  to  be  disinclined  to  meet 
the  overture  of  the  great  Cambridge  professor  ;  and  the 
degree  was  immediately  conferred.  The  newly  created 
Master  was  thus  advised  of  the  honor  by  Professor  Bentley, 
under  date  of  January  31.  1807  : 

"I  have  the  pleasure  to  announce  to  you  that  the  Univers-- 
ity  and  King's  College,  Aberdeen,  have  this  day  unani- 
mously conferred  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  on  Mr. 
Adam  Clarke,  member  of  the  Philological  Society  of  Man- 
chester, and  author  of  several  literary  works  of  merit.  Mr. 
Scott  is  the  promoter  in  this  faculty,  and  I  was  obliged  to 
him  for  seconding  me  in  my  proposal.  Let  me  assure  you, 
I  look  not  on  this  as  the  measure  of  your  merit ;  but  it  may 
be  considered  as  a  step  ;  and,  while  I  live,  I  shall  not  cease 
to  wish,  and  (as  far  as  it  may  be  in  my  power)  endeavor  to 
promote,  your  due  honor  and  fame." 

Some  thirteen  months  afterward  the  senate  of  King's  Col- 
lege attested  their  proper  appreciation  of  his  learning  and 
labors  by  creating  him  Doctor  of  Laws.  This  act  was  an- 
nounced to  him  in  most  complimentary  terms  by  Mr.  Bent- 
ley,  under  date  of  March  3,  1808  : 

"I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you,  that  this  University 
has  this  day  given  another  proof  of  its  estimation  of  your 
merit,  by  unanimously  voting  to  you  the  highest  designa- 
tion in  its  gift,  that  of  LL.D.  Permit  me  to  add  my  sin- 
cere congratulations  on  the  occasion,  and  to  wish  that  you 
may  long  live  to  enjoy  the  rewards  and  fruits  of  your  use- 
ful and  meritorious  labors.  You  are  already  as  much  pos- 
sessed of  the  degree  as  it  is  possible  to  be  ;  but  I  shall  soon 
have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you  the  demonstration  of  it 
in  the  sign  manual  of  all  the  members  of  the  Senatus 
Academicus." 


392  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

It  may  be  added,  that  so  entirely  were  these  transactions 
divested  of  all  pecuniary  relationships,  that  the  college  refused 
to  accept  even  the  customary  fees  given  on  those  occasions. 

In  1813  Dr.  Clarke  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Antiqua- 
rian Society.  His  nomination,  which  had  the  signature  of 
one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  State  Records,  having  been 
suspended  at  Somerset  House  for  the  usual  period  of  six 
weeks,  his  election  was  unanimous.  This  connection  with 
the  Antiquarian  Society  was  attended  both  with  pleasure 
and  profit  to  him,  from  the  congeniality  of  the  studies  car- 
ried on  by  its  members,  with  those  in  which  all  his  life  he 
felt  a  peculiar  interest. 

The  Royal  Irish  Academy  inscribed  Dr.  Clarke's  name 
among  those  of  its  members  in  1821 ;  a  distinction  which 
gave  him  the  more  satisfaction,  from  the  circumstance  that 
it  was  a  token  of  esteem  from  his  own  countrymen. 

A  similar  mark  of  respect  was  shown  by  the  Eclectic 
Society  of  London — an  association  consisting  only  of  men 
who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  literature  or  science. 
The  chancellors  of  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
were  at  that  time  the  vice-patrons  of  the  Society ;  the  patron, 
II.R.H.  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  whose  seal  was  affixed  to 
the  diploma. 

The  Geological  Society  of  London  enrolled  the  doctor  as 
an  associate  in  1823;  and  in  the  same  year  the  Royal 
Asiatic  Society  elected  him  a  fellow.  He  had  also  the 
honor  of  being  instituted  a  member  of  the  American  His- 
torical Institute. 

It  should  be  observed,  that,  as  none  of  these  distinctions 
had  been  sought  by  Dr.  Clarke,  so  they  were  not  overween- 
ingly  doted  upon  when  received.*  He  "  bore  his  faculties 
meekly ;"  in  truth,  they  gave  him  at  times  more  pain  than 
pleasure.  He  walked  humbly  with  God,  and  with  men ; 
still  ambitious,  not  of  the  laurel  wreaths  that  fade  away, 
but  of  the  crown  which  is  incorruptible. 

*  His  mind  hud  too  far  outgrown  things  of  that  kind  to  be  satisfied 
with  them. 


HONORED  BY  THE  GREAT  AND  GOOD.    393 

It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  from  all  ranks  of  society  Dr. 
Clarke  received  most  unequivocal  tokens  of  real  respect. 
Among  the  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  distin- 
guished laics  and  dignified  clergymen  made  no  secret  of 
their  personal  regard  for  the  learned  Methodist  divine.  A 
pleasant  incident  illustrative  of  this  took  place  at  an  anniver- 
sary meeting  of  the  Prayer-Book  and  Homily  Society.  Dr. 
Clarke  was  on  the  platform,  which  was  crowded  by  some  of 
the  elite  of  the  Church.  One  of  the  speakers  took  occasion 
to  refer  to  him,  as  "  the  worthy  doctor,  who,  of  all  the  men 
I  know  who  are  not  of  our  Church,  comes  the  nearest  to  it 
both  in  doctrine  and  friendship ;"  whereupon  Dr.  Clarke,  in 
a  speech  which  followed,  ventured,  in  alluding  to  the  refer- 
once  to  himself,  to  state  his  own  connection  with  the  Church 
by  baptism,  confirmation,  and  communion  ;  adding  :  "  If, 
after  all,  I  am  not  allowed  to  be  a  member  of  it,  because, 
through  necessity  being  laid  upon  me,  I  preach  Jesus  to  the 
perishing  multitudes  without  those  most  respectable  orders 
that  come  from  it,  I  must  strive  to  be  content ;  and  if  you 
will  not  let  me  accompany  you  to  heaven,  I  will,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  follow  after  you,  and  hang  upon  your  skirts." 
Mr.  Wilberforce,  who  was  sitting  beside  the  chair,  rose,  and 
in  his  usual  animated  style  said :  "  Far  from  not  acknow- 
ledging our  worthy  friend  as  a  genuine  member  of  the 
Church,  and  of  the  Church  of  the  firstborn  whose  names 
are  written  in  heaven — far  from  denying  him  to  be  of  the 
company  who  are  pressing  in  at  the  gate  of  blessedness — 
we  will  not  indeed  let  him  follow ;  he  shall  not  hang  on  our 
skirts,  to  be  as  if  dragged  onward ;  we  will  take  him  in  our 
arms,  we  will  bear  him  in  our  bosoms,  and  carry  him  into 
the  presence  of  his  God  and  our  God." 

On  the  publication  of  his  little  manual,  "  The  Traveler's 
Prayer,"  he  received  complimentary  letters  from  the  Bish- 
ops Blomfield,  Ryder,  and  Herbert  Marsh.  The  latter  pre- 
late told  him  that,  though  long  accustomed  to  read,  study, 
and  admire  the  Liturgy  of  the  Anglican  Church,  he  felt  that 
Dr.  Clarke's  discourse  on  the  Third  Collect  developed  beau- 


394  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLAKKE. 

ties  in  it  which  he  had  never  seen  before.  Blomfield,  bishop 
of  London,  gave  him  a  general  invitation  to  visit  him  at 
Fulham  Palace  whenever  he  could  make  it  convenient.  On 
one  occasion,  after  a  frank  conversation,  as  they  were  de- 
scending the  stairs  toward  the  hall  door,  his  lordship  quoted 
in  Latin  the  well  known  sentence :  "  Seeing  you  are  such  a 
man,  I  wish  you  were  altogether  our  own."  The  bishop 
liked  Dr.  Clarke's  simple,  genuine  character,  as  well  as  his 
learning.  He  was  a  frequent  reader  of  his  Commentary. 

The  late  Earl  and  Countess  of  Derby  took  several  occa- 
sions of  testifying  the  veneration  and  regard  they  had 
learned  to  entertain  for  him.  Their  personal  acquaintance 
with  him  began  after  he  had  come  to  reside  at  Millbrook. 
He  received  (to  quote  a  letter  of  his  own)  "  a  polite  mes- 
sage, stating  that,  if  agreeable  to  me,  they  would  wait  on 
me  for  the  purpose  of  inviting  me  to  Knowsley  Hall.  I 
fixed  the  next  day  at  twelve ;  and  they  came.  .  .  .  There 
were  thirteen  persons,  all  nobles."  Much  conversation  took 
place.  Among  other  topics,  the  countess,  who  seemed  "  far, 
very  far  from  being  indifferent  to  the  life  of  God  in  the 
soul,"  asked  him  for  a  copy  of  his  sermon  on  "  Salvation  by 
Faith,"  which  he  presented  to  her  ladyship,  with  the  kindred 
discourse  on  the  "  Love  of  God."  This  led  to  other  visits 
on  both  sides,  and  not  without  some  good  improvement. 

Among  the  members  of  the  royal  family  there  were  some 
who  showed  a  personal  respect  for  Dr.  Clarke.  His  Com- 
mentary was  not  only  in  their  libraries,  but  often  in  their 
hands.  The  Duke  of  Kent,  the  father  of  our  august  sove- 
reign, attended  personally  at  City  Road  Chapel  to  hear  the 
doctor  preach  for  the  Royal  Humane  Society  ;  and  the  Duke 
of  Sussex  gave  him  repeated  evidences  of  a  more  than  or- 
dinary esteem. 

That  illustrious  prince,  among  other  excellent  traits  of 
character,  was  distinguished  by  an  ardent  love  for  Biblical 
learning.  His  own  knowledge  of  the  sacred  tongues  was 
more  than  respectable,  and  his  library  contained  a  magnifi- 
cent collection  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  principal  languages 


HONORED  BY  THE  GREAT  AND  GOOD.    395 

and  editions  in  which  they  had  been  given  to  the  world. 
The  duke  had  fifteen  hundred  Bibles  ;  and  for  many  years 
he  spent  two  hours  every  morning  in  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures. Now  Dr.  Clarke  had  a  copy  of  the  London  Poly- 
glot which  contained  in  the  Epistle  Dedicatory  a  laudatory 
reference,  by  Walton,  to  Oliver  Cromwell.*  The  Protector 
dying  before  the  actual  publication  of  the  work,  this  pas- 
sage was  suppressed,  and  the  epistle  modified  so  as  to  dedi- 
cate the  Polyglot  to  the  returning  monarch.  A  few  of  the 
republican  copies,  nevertheless,  found  their  way  into  the 
world ;  and  from  that  in  his  own  possession  Dr.  Clarke  re- 
printed a  few  exemplars  of  the  Dedication,  in  type  exactly 
resembling  the  original.  To  render  the  likeness  still  more 
complete,  he  tinted  the  paper  by  an  infusion  of  tobacco  to 
the  shade  which  time  had  given  to  the  pages  of  the  Polyglot, 
The  Duke  of  Sussex,  having  heard  of  this,  expressed  a  wish 
to  have  one  of  those  sheets  for  his  own  copy,  and  made  the 
request  for  it  through  his  surgeon,  William  Blair,  Esq., 
who  was  a  personal  friend  of  Dr.  Clarke;  upon  which  the 
doctor  wrote  a  letter  to  his  Eoyal  Highness,  accompanied 
by  the  only  copy  of  the  reprinted  Dedication  which  re- 
mained, and  a  reprint  of  the  title-page  to  the  fifth  volume 
of  the  Polyglot,  containing  the  New  Testament,  found  only 
in  a  very  few  copies.  In  acknowledging  the  gift  through 
his  secretary,  Mr.  Pettigrew,  "  His  Royal  Highness  "  writes 
that  gentleman  "  commands  me  to  say  that  he  trusts,  when- 
ever you  come  to  London,  you  will  honor  him  with  a  visit, 
when  he  will  be  very  proud  to  show  you  his  library,  and  be 
most  happy  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  a  man  for  whose 
talents  and  character  he  has  so  exalted  an  opinion."  Dr. 
Clarke,  in  reply,  "  made  his  humble  acknowledgments, 
and  should  he  come  to  town  would  feel  himself  hon- 


*  "  Primo  autem  commemorandi  quorum  favore  chartam  a  vectigalibiis 
immunem  habuimus,  quod  quinque  abliinc  annis  (scil.  1652)  a  concilia 
secretion primo  concessum,  postea  a  Sereni«simo  D.  PROTECTORS  ejusque 
concilia,  operis  promovendi  causa,  benigne  confirmatum  et  continual  um 


396  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

ored  in  receiving  any  commands  from  his  Royal 
Highness." 

Being  in  London  about  three  months  after,  to  preach  for 
the  Missionary  Society,  the  doctor  was  invited  to  meet  the 
royal  duke  at  Kensington  Palace.  "I  went,"  says  he, 
writing  to  Miss  Clarke,  "  and  was  received  by  his  Royal 
Highness  in  his  closet,  and  was  led  by  himself  through  his 
library,  where  he  showed  me  several  curious  things,  and 
condescended  to  ask  me  several  Bibliographical  questions, 
desiring  his  librarian  from  time  to  time  to  note  the  answers 
down.  Dinner  came.  The  company :  His  Royal  High- 
ness; Dr.  Parr,  the  highest  Greek  scholar  in  Europe;  Sir 
Anthony  Carlisle;  the  Rev.  T.  Maurice,  of  the  British 

Museum  ;  the  Hon. Gower,  Colonel  Wildman,  Sir 

Alexander  Johnstone,  Lord  Blessington,  Mr.  Pettigrew,  and 
Adam  Clarke.  We  sat  down  about  seven  o'clock,  and  din- 
ner was  over  about  half  past  nine.  I  wished  much  to  get 
away,  though  the  conversation  was  to  me  unique,  curious, 
and  instructive,  fearing  your  mother  would  be  uneasy.  I 
cannot  give  you  the  conversation,  but  you  may  judge  by 
the  outline.  .  .  . 

"  I  was  informed  1  must  remain  till  all  the  company  had 
departed,  which  was  about  twelve  o'clock.'  When  they 
were  all  gone,  the  duke  sat  down  on  the  sofa,  and  beckoned 
me  to  come  and  sit  beside  him,  on  his  right  hand ;  and  he 
entered  for  a  considerable  time  into  a  most  familiar  conver- 
sation with  me.  At  last  a  servant  in  the  royal  livery  came 
to  me,  saying,  '  Sir,  the  carriage  is  in  waiting.'  I  rose  up, 
and  his  Royal  Highness,  rising  at  the  same  time,  took  me 
affectionately  by  the  hand,  told  me  I  must  come  and  visit 
him  some  morning  when  he  was  alone,  (which  time  should 
be  arranged  between  me  and  his  secretary,)  bade  me  a 
friendly  '  good-night,'  and  I  was  then  conducted  by  the  ser- 
vant to  the  door  of  the  palace,  when,  lo,  and  behold,  one  of 
the  royal  carriages  was  in  waiting,  to  carry  a  Methodist 
preacher,  your  old  weather-beaten  father,  to  his  own 
lodgings." 


HONORED  BY  THE  GREAT  AND  GOOD.     397 

Iii  the  following  November  Dr.  Clarke  presented  the  duke 
with  copies  of  the  parts  of  his  Commentary  which  had  then 
been  completed,  and  along  with  them  a  letter  describing  the 
history  of  the  work,  and  the  studies  which  had  produced  it. 
Referring  to  the  pains  he  had  taken  to  set  the  doctrines  of 
the  Bible  in  the  clear  light  of  evidence,  he  adds  :  "  On  all 
such  subjects  I  humbly  hope  your  Royal  Highness  will  never 
consult  these  volumes  in  vain.  And  if  the  grand  doctrines 
which  prove  that  God  is  loving  to  every  man,  and  that  from 
his  infinite  and  eternal  goodness  he  wills,  and  has  made  pro- 
vision for,  the  salvation  of  every  human  soul,  be  found  to  be 
those  alone  which  have  stood  the  above  sifting  and  exami- 
nation, it  was  not  because  they  were  sought  for  beyond  all 
others,  and  the  Scriptures  bent  in  that  way  in  order  to  favor 
them,  but  because  these  doctrines  are  essentially  contained 
in  and  established  by  the  oracles  of  God." 

The  Duke  of  Sussex,  acknowledging  this  offering  in  a  long 
autograph  letter,  expressed  his  belief  in  the  Divine  origin 
and  truth  of  the  holy  volume,  and  his  despair  of  ever  being 
able  fully  to  understand  all  its  mysteries.  This,  however, 
says  he,  "  ought  in  no  wise  to  slacken  our  diligence,  nor 
damp  our  ardor,  in  attempting  a  constant  research  after  the 
attainment  of  truth  ;  as  we  may  flatter  ourselves,  although 
unable  to  reach  the  goal,  still  to  approach  much  nearer  to 
its  portals."  And  again:  "The  objects,  besides  many  others, 
which  seem  to  have  occupied  the  greatest  and  most  valuable 
part  of  your  active  life,  cannot  fail  of  being  most  interesting  to 
the  historian,  the  theologist,  the  legislator,  and  the  philosopher. 
To  these  details  I  shall  apply  myself;  and  as  my  heart  and 
mind  improve,  I  shall  feel  my  debt  of  gratitude  toward  you 
daily  increasing — an  obligation  I  shall  ever  be  proud  to  own." 

In  April,  1825,  he  was  favored  with  another  invitation  to 
Kensington.  The  Doctor  was  accompanied  this  time  by  his 
son,  Mr.  J.  W.  Clarke,  who  had  been  included  by  his  Royal 
Highness's  command.  Writing  to  Miss  Clarke,  her  father 
says  :  "  We  reached  Kensington  about  six  o'clock.  The 
duke  soon  made  his  appearance,  for  by  this  time  the  whole 


398  LIFE    OF   ADAM  CLARKE. 

company  were  in  the  pavilion,  and  singling  me  out,  took  me 
by  the  hand,  and  led  me  forward  to  two  Indian  gentlemen, 
saying,  '  Here  is  my  friend,  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  who  will 
speak  Persic  or  Arabic  with  any  of  you.'  Previously  to 
dinner  all  the  company  were  ushered  into  the  room  where 
the  MSS.  and  early  printed  books  are  kept.  The  Duke  of 
Hamilton  remarking  upon  the  probable  date  of  some  of 
them,  from  their  illuminations,  John  gave  two  or  three  opin- 
ions, heraldically,*  which  were  happy  and  decisive.  .  .  . 
The  profusion  of  plate  was  amazing.  I  ate  about  an  ounce 
of  turbot  and  did  not  taste  one  drop  of  fluid  of  any  kind. 
His  Eoyal  Highness  two  or  three  different  times  recom- 
mended viands  from  the  head  of  the  table  to  John,  and 
pledged  and  sent  him  some  Trinity  College  ale.  He  soon 
felt  at  home,  and  took  his  part  in  discussions  on  antiquities 
and  heraldry,  which  were  well  received.  .  .  .  The  conver- 
sation referred  to  several  points  of  language  and  criticism." 
Hitherto  the  Doctor  had  been  the  guest  of  the  Prince ; 
but,  on  coming  to  reside  at  Haydon  Hall,  he  had  the  honor 
of  receiving  his  Royal  Highness  in  more  than  one  friendly 
visit.  On  the  first  occasion  he  was  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Pettigrew,  his  librarian.  Dr.  Clarke  received  his  august 
visitor  with  a  true-hearted  and  genial  politeness.  During 
dinner  the  prince  entered  freely  into  social  and  intellectual 
conversation,  and  spent  several  hours  after  with  the  Doctor 
among  his  books.  Sometime  subsequently  the  duke  made 
a  second  visit,  having  previously  intimated  his  wish  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  dining  at  Haydon  Hall.  He  came  as  early 
as  two  o'clock,  and  employed  the  interval  before  dinner  in 
reading  portions  of  the  Bible,  and  making  references  in  He- 
brew criticism. f  He  was  greatly  delighted  with  inspecting 
a  set  of  Hebrew  manuscripts  which  Dr.  Clarke  had  been  for- 

*  In  the  art  of  heraldry  John  Clarke  was  second  to  very  few. 

t  The  superintendent  of  the  Windsor  Circuit  (the  Rev.  A.  Strachan) 
was  at  the  Hall  that  day ;  and  talking  over  the  visit  afterward,  said, 
"  Do  you  think,  Doctor,  that  the  Prince  is  a  converted  man?"  "  I  do 
not  know  what  you  would  do,"  replied  he;  "  but  I  think  I  should  not 
)ii"»itiito  to  give  him  a  note  upon  trial." 


HONORED  BY  THE  GREAT  AND  GOOD    399 

tunate  enough  to  purchase  from  the  Vanderhagon  family  in 
Holland;  manuscripts  which  Kennicott  mentions  in  the 
introduction  to  his  great  Bible,  with  the  lamentation  that 
with  all  his  efforts  he  had  not  been  able  to  have  access  to 
them  for  collation.  It  was  just  subsequent  to  this  visit  that 
the  Rev.  Joseph  Clarke,  the  Doctor's  youngest  son,  was  ap- 
pointed chaplain  to  the  Duke  of  Sussex. 

In  closing  these  details,  we  must  remark  that  the  venera- 
tion and  honor  in  which  Dr.  Clarke  was  held  in  his  lifetime 
have  now  long  survived  his  own  appearance  among  us,  and 
seem  to  gather  new  strength  as  years  roll  on.  In  the 
very  week  in  which  these  lines  are  penned,  the  public  news- 
papers give  an  account  of  a  meeting  held  in  the  court-house 
in  the  town  of  Coleraine  for  the  purpose  of  founding  "  a  me- 
morial to  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  in  the  erection  of  a  Methodist 
chapel  at  Port-Stewart,  in  the  parish  of  Agherton,  where  he 
was  brought  up  ;  and  of  a  memorial  obelisk  and  statue,  to 
be  raised  at  Portrush,  as  the  most  conspicuous  site,  and  in 
the  focus  of  observation  for  travelers  and  tourists  to  the 
Giants'  Causeway."  It  appears  that  such  a  purpose  has  been 
formed  not  only  by  the  Methodists  of  that  part  of  Ireland, 
but  by  the  great  body  of  the  most  influential  inhabitants. 
Among  the  names  of  the  managing  committee  are  those  of  a 
nobleman,  Lord  Robert  Montague,  a  member  of  Parliament, 
five  justices  of  the  peace,  the  treasurer  for  the  county,  several 
military  officers,  four  aldermen,  a  number  of  the  clergy,  and 
some  of  the  principal  landed  gentlemen  in  that  part  of  the 
kingdom  ;  the  chairman,  J.  C.  Knox,  Esq.,  of  Jackson  Hall.* 

*  This  project  has  since  taken  its  finally  definite  character.  "  The 
Adam  Clarke  Memorial,"  (under  the  patronage  of  the  Right  Hon.  the 
earl  of  Antrim,  and  John  Crombie,  Esq.,  J.  P.,  D.  L.,)  is  to  consist  of  a 
"  school,  church,  and  minister's  house,  at  Port-Stewart,  and  an  obelisk 
and  statue  at  Portrush,  near  Coleraiue."  The  foundation  stone  of  the 
obelisk  was  laid  in  September,  18.57,  with  great  public  solemnities.  The 
base  is  seven  feet  square  and  eight  feet  high,  from  which  the  monument 
will  rise  to  a  height  of  forty-two  feet ;  which,  taking  the  elevation  of  the 
site,  will  be  equal  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  Close  to  the  base  will  be  the  statue  of  Dr.  Clarke,  contributed  by 
public  offerings  in  America.  Two  eminent  men  from  thnt,  side  of  the  At- 


400 


LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 


Such  demonstrations  reflect  an  honor  on  those  who  make 
them,  as  well  as  on  the  character  of  him  whom  they  are  de- 
signed to  commemorate.  As  opposed  to  the  too  common 
and  heartless  ingratitude  of  the  world,  the  veneration  shown 
for  men  who  have  widened  the  horizon  of  human  knowledge 
or  helped  to  confirm  our  souls  in  virtue,  is  something  beau- 
tiful and  desirable.  When  human  society  shall  be  regene- 
rated from  its  blind  debasement,  such  benefactors  will 
receive  the  reverence  of  nations. 

lantic  represented  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  day — Dr.  M'Clintock,  lately  editor  of  the  Methodist  Quarterly  Keview, 
and  the  Eev.  W.  H.  Milburn,  lately  chaplain  to  the  Congress. 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  401 


CHAPTEK  III. 

THE   PHILANTHROPIST. 

"THOUGH  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels, 
and  have  not  charity,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass,  or  a 
tinkling  cymbal."  The  good  works  of  the  Christian  derive 
their  life  and  splendor  from  love,  without  which  they  would 
be  "  dead  works,"  and  nothing  worth.  Of  this  principle  the 
venerable  man  whose  history  we  are  now  reviewing  had  an 
abiding  conviction.  That  "  vital  spark  of  heavenly  flame," 
the  love  of  God  kindled  in  his  soul,  by  the  Eternal  Spirit, 
revealed  itself  in  a  life  of  humble  piety  toward  the  great 
Supreme,  and  ceaseless  efforts  to  promote  the  welfare  of 
mankind.  The  more  he  knew  of  Christ  his  Saviour  by  a 
communion  which  grew  more  intimate  with  his  years,  the 
stronger  were  the  impulses  of  his  mind  and  heart  to  walk 
as  he  also  walked  who  "  went  about  doing  good." 

This  living  Christianity  took  one  of  its  many  forms  of  ex- 
pression in  sympathy  for  the  friendless  poor,  a.nd  especially 
for  those  who  were  of  the  household  of  faith,  whom  he  called 
"  the  representatives  of  Christ,  and  God's  best  friends."  A 
few  words  from  an  early  letter,  written  in  Guernsey,  will 
show  the  nature  of  this  feeling :  "  William  Mahy,  our  local 
preacher,  was  obliged  to  put  his  four  little  innocents  to  bed 
in  the  day-time,  and  cover  them  up,  to  prevent  them  from 
starving ;  not  having  a  morsel  of  coal  to  burn,  nor  money 
to  purchase  any.  Had  a  portion  of  the  cash  wasted  in  the 
above  way"  (referring  to  a  piece  of  extravagance)  "been 
appropriated  to  the  relief  of  this  distressed  good  man,  how 
gladly  would  the  first  scribe  in  heaven  have  registered  it  hi  the 
annals  of  eternity  !  When  I  consider  the  suffering  state  of 
these  '  more  righteous  than  I,'  I  can  scarcely  eat  my  morsel 


402  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

with  contentment.  If  there  is  meaning  in  the  expression 
'  a  bleeding  heart,'  I  think  I  have  it  for  the  poor.  My  very 
soul  seems  to  feel  for  them  throughout  the  world,  as  my 
father,  my  sister,  my  mother,  and  my  brethren.  Forgive 
me,  if,  in  detailing  on  this  subject,  which  oppresses  my 
heart,  I  have  forgotten  to  write  about  the  full  salvation  you 
inquired  after ;  but  is  it  not  found  in  the  compassions  of 
Christ  1  And  were  not  these  exercised  in  continual  outgo- 
ings for  the  poor?  He  lived  for  the  poor,  he  died  for  the 
poor;  and  blessed  is  he  who  remembereth  the  poor,  even 
supposing  he  is  not  able  to  help  them.  I  know  I  feel  the 
spirit  and  power  of  Christ,  as  I  feel  love  modified  into  com- 
passion and  pity."  And  this  feeling  led  him  to  do  whatever 
in  him  lay  to  relieve  the  distressed,  and  to  do  it  in  the 
Christian  way,  without  the  trumpet-tongue  of  the  Pharisee, 
and  not  letting  his  left  hand  know  what  his  right  hand  did. 
When  he  had  little,  of  that  little  he  gave  willingly.  He 
literally  broke  his  bread  and  shared  his  morsel  with  the 
hungry,  and  taught  his  children  to  do  the  same.  We  have 
given  an  illustration  of  this  on  a  former  page.*  Writing 
to  Mrs.  Clarke  from  the  Bristol  Conference,  in  1798,  he 
says :  "  I  have  just  found  out  poor  Mrs.  C.,  with  her 
mother  and  sister,  living  together  in  an  indifferent  upstairs 
room,  St.  James's  Churchyard,  Horsefair.  I  must  give  her 
something.  But  what  shall  I  do  ?  I  have  but  2s.  6d.  I 
must  break  in  upon  my  conference  guinea."  We  transcribe 
these  words  with  delicacy ;  but  do  it  to  show  what  manner 
of  a  man  Dr.  Clarke  really  was.  In  after  life,  when  Provi- 
dence gave  him  more,  he  was  able  to  make  his  donations 
more  weighty:  "Give  poor  Ellen  that  guinea  for  me." 

"Give  Mrs. a  guinea  for  me."     "I  have  just  heard 

that  Mr. has  become  a  bankrupt,  and  is  in  great  dis- 
tress. Can  you  show  him  any  kindness?  I  have  sent  by 
Mrs.  S.  two  guineas,  which  you  will  give  to  him,  with  my 
love.  Do  not  delay.f" 

*  See  page  214. 

1 1  find  from  his  letters,  that  in  his  journeys  in  Ireland  he  went  about 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  403 

The  exercise  of  his  medical  skill  often  gave  him  great 
consolation,  as  he  was, enabled  thus  to  relieve  distress  and 
to  save  life.  He  exulted,  also,  in  witnessing  good  done  by 
others.  Writing  on  a  journey,  he  mentions  an  inscription 
on  a  house  in  Rochester  with  which  he  was  delighted :  it 

set  forth  that  Mr. had  by  will  bequeathed  a  certain 

sum  to  be  laid  out  at  all  times  upon  poor  travelers,  "  six 
of  whom  every  night  (provided  they  be  neither  rogues  nor 
proctors)  may  have  their  supper  and  a  night's  lodging,  and 
fourpence  a  man  next  morning."  "  Was  not  this  noble  1" 
says  he.  "  Peace  to  the  manes  of  this  honorable  fellow !" 

He  set  others  to  do  good ;  not  only  by  the  general  tenor 
of  his  doctrine  and  life,  but  by  organizing  associations  for 
works  of  mercy  to  the  body  and  the  soul.  Of  this  the  Stran- 
gers' Friend  Society  is  a  blessed  monument. 

.  But  Dr.  Clarke's  benevolence  took  a  wider  range  than 
the  necessities  of  the  body.  Not  content  with  supplying 
according  to  his  power  the  hungry  with  food,  and  clothing 
the  naked  with  a  garment,  but  recognizing  the  loftier  des- 
tinies of  our  nature,  he  used  every  means  at  his  command 
to  meet  the  wants  of  the  immortal  mind.  In  the  poorest 
orphan  he  beheld  a  being  who  could  be  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  God  as  a  Father,  and  become  the  heir  of  an 
endless  life.  To  further  the  great  cause  of  religious  educa- 
tion was  with  him,  therefore,  a  prominent  duty  ;  and  by  his 
long-continued  appeals  on  behalf  of  Sunday  schools,  those 
important  institutions  were  greatly  aided.  But  in  the  year 
1830  his  attention  was  especially  attracted  to  a  providential 
opening  for  the  establishment  of  some  day  schools  in  certain 
destitute  neighborhoods  in  that  part  of  Ireland  where  he 
himself  had  spent  his  childhood.  A  Christian  friend,  Miss 
Birch,  who  had  already  greatly  aided  him  in  his  charitable 
enterprises,  now  united  with  three  other  ladies  in  placing 
funds  at  his  disposal  for  this  good  work.  The  Rev.  Samuel 

with  an  open-handed  bounty  among  the  poor.  At  Millbrook  one  severe 
winter  he  gave  shelter  and  food  to  some  twenty  poor  sailors  from  Liver- 
pool. 


404  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

Harpur,  superintendent  of  the  Coleraine  Circuit,  had  corre- 
sponded with  him  on  the  subject,  and  pointed  out  such  local- 
ities as,  having  been  left  in  entire  destitution,  presented  the 
strongest  claims.  These  preliminaries  were  followed  up  by 
a  personal  visit  on  the  part  of  the  doctor  himself,  who  in 
the  spring  of  1831  accomplished  a  long  itinerancy  in  the 
north  of  Ulster,  "  about  Magilligan,  on  Ahadowey ;  the  upper 
part  of  the  parish  of  Mocosquin ;  a  place  called  Cashel,  near 
the  mountains  of  Newtownlimavaddy,  and  on  the  side  of 
the  river  Bann ;  the  sea-coast  parts  of  the  county  Antrim ; 
Portrush  and  its  vicinity,  where  there  was  a  large  and  in- 
creasing population,  and  where  for  miles  there  was  no  school 
of  any  kind,  nor  any  sort  of  instruction,  and  where,  conse- 
sequently,  ignorance  and  vice  had  almost  uncontrolled  sway." 
As  soon  as  the  means  were  in  existence,  he  gave  Mr.  Har- 
pur the  power  to  commence  operations ;  so  that,  before  hjs 
arrival,  schools  had  been  opened  at  Portrush  and  some 
other  places,  and  suitable  masters  engaged  for  those  yet 
contemplated.  We  give  a  specimen  from  a  copious  diary 
kept  on  his  pilgrimage  of  mercy : 

"  April  13.  Mr.  Holdcroft  and  myself  left  Coleraine  in 
a  car,  and  proceeded  to  Port-Stuart  and  Portrush.  .  .  . 
I  have  scarcely  ever  seen  a  sight  jnore  lovely ;  though  the 
children  are  all  miserably  poor,  and  only  half  clothed,  they 
are  all  quite  clean,  their  hair  combed,  and  even  their  bare 
feet  clean  also.  There  are  eighty  children,  and  all  b.ehaving 
with  decorum — thus  strangely  changed  in  their  conduct  and 
habits.  Wicked  words  no  longer  heard,  and  decency  of 
behavior  everywhere  observable.  They  hav«  not  only 
learned  prayers,  but  how  to  use  them.  I  discoursed  with 
some  of  the  principal  inhabitants,  who  bore  the  strongest 
testimony  to  the  great  good  already  produced  not  only 
among  the  children,  but  also  among  the  parents.  They  are 
at  present  ill  off  for  a  place  sufficiently  large;  and  I  am 
struggling  hard  to  get  a  piece  of  ground,  on  which  a  chapel 
and  school-house  may  be  erected,  and  believe  I  shall  ulti- 
mately succeed, 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  405 

"  April  14.  We  set  off  again  this  morning  to  visit  the 
schools  in  the  hill  country.  Here  (at  Cashel)  were  sev- 
enty-five children,  and  not  one  pair  of  shoes  among  the 
whole.  The  children  are  in  fine  order,  and  promise  well. 
The  aspect  of  the  country  would  almost  affright  one — the 
most  bleak  and  wild  that  can  be  imagined.  Never  did 
charity  sit  down  in  the  form  of  an  instructress  more  in  her 
own  character  than  in  this  waste.  The  school-house  is  large. 
I  have  agreed  to  take  the  place,  pay  the  debt,  and  give 
£1  10s.  to  put  it  in  repair.  Every  Lord's  day  it  is  now  full 
of  attentive  hearers  ;  for  the  master  is  a  preacher. 

"  April  18.  We  went  to-day  to  a  place  called  Croagh, 
Avhere  the  whole  youth  of  a  large  and  populous  district  have 
been  long  without  education.  It  had  been  published  that  I 
was  expected.  When  we  got  within  a  mile  of  the  place, 
we  saw  squads  of  children  with  their  mothers  coming  down 
the  hills  and  over  the  moors  from  all  quarters  to  the  school- 
house,  which  is  little  more  than  half  finished.  So  a  farmer 
had  prepared  a  barn  meantime.  I  proclaimed  an  adjourn- 
ment to  the  barn,  about  half  a  mile  off;  and,  setting  out, 
they  all  filed  after  me,  children  and  mothers.  When  at  the 
place,  I  addressed  the  parents  out  of  doors,  and  laid  down 
the  rules  and  conditions  on  which  the  children  were  to  be 
admitted.  Then,  standing  at  the  barn-door,  I  admitted 
them,  one  by  one,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  ;  introduced  the  master ;  gave  his  character  and 
qualifications ;  specified  the  sort  of  teaching  the  children 
were  to  receive ;  the  discipline  under  which  they  were  to 
be  brought :  to  learn  their  duty  to  God,  to  their  parents,  to 
each  other ;  to  pray  ;  to  avoid  every  evil  in  word  and  deed, 
in  spirit,  temper,  and  desire ;  to  be  industrious,  cleanly, 
orderly,  respectful  to  their  superiors,  affectionate  to  their 
relatives,  kind  and  obliging  to  their  equals.  After  a  good 
deal  of  exhortation,  I  then  proceeded  to  bring  all  the  chil- 
dren out  of  the  barn,  laying  my  hands  upon  their  heads,  and 
praying  to  God  for  his  blessing  upon  them  alL" 

Such  is  an  extract  from  this  pleasing  record  of  operations 


406  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  schools  which  have 
ever  since  been  centers  of  intellectual,  religious,  and  social 
benefit  to  the  neighborhoods  where  they  stand.  Toward 
the  close  of  his  life,  Dr.  Clarke  made  them  over  to  the  care 
of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society. 

A  yet  more  weighty  undertaking  was  the  establishment 
of  a  mission  to  the  Zetland  Isles.  To  this  truly  apostolic 
work  Dr.  Clarke  brought  the  latest  vigor  of  his  life.  The 
youthful  evangelist  in  the  sunny  islands  of  La  Manche,  now 
changed  by  the  lapse  of  years  to  the  gray-headed  elder, 
bends  his  way  to  tell  the  inhabiters  of  the  storm  beaten 
rocks  of  the  "ultima  Thule"  the  majesty  and  grace  of  the 
same  Redeemer. 

It  was  at  the  Conference  of  1822,  the  year  of  the  Doctor's 
third  presidency,  that,  in  an  extensive  discussion  on  the 
missionary  agencies  of  Methodism,  the  late  Rev.  Danjel 
McAllum,  M.D.,  laid  before  his  brethren  an  impressive 
account  of  the  almost  destitute  condition  of  the  Zetlanders 
as  to  the  means  of  religious  instruction.  Dr.  Clarke  list- 
ened to  those  details  with  more  than  usual  interest.  He 
had  himself  descended,  on  the  mother's  side,  from  a  family 
which  from  remote  generations  lived  the  life  of  Scottish 
islanders  in  the  Hebrides  ;  and^  this  circumstance  would 
probably  give  a  finer  edge  to  the  sensibility  with  which  he 
felt  the  speaker's  appeals.  Under  the  influence  of  these 
feelings  he  rose,  urged  on  the  Conference  the  duty  of  taking 
the  work  at  once  in  hand,  and  concluded  by  proposing  that 
two  missionaries  should  be  thereupon  appointed  to  the  Zet- 
land Isles.  The  difficulty  as  to  expenses  he  would  not  per- 
mit to  interfere  with  the  favorable  leaning  of  the  Conference 
toward  the  enterprise ;  already  resolving  that  all  he  could 
do,  or  induce  others  to  do,  should  be  called  freely  into  exer- 
cise to  promote  this  plain  work  of  mercy.  Accordingly 
two  ministers,  the  Rev.  John  Raby  and  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Dunn,  were  set  apart  for  the  new  mission. 

No   sooner   had  the  Doctor  returned  from  Conference, 
than  he  commenced  operations   for  raising  the  neccessary 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  407 

funds.  There  lived  at  that  time  at  Pensford,  near  Bristol, 
a  gentleman  of  great  honor  and  piety,  Robert  Scott,  Esq., 
who,  with  his  excellent  lady,  was  always  willing  to  help  the 
preachers  in  their  enterprises  to  make  the  Saviour  known 
to  the  nigh  and  to  the  far-off.  To  him  the  president  made 
his  first  appeal ;  and  with  what  effect,  the  annals  of  that 
mission  will  never  case  to  show.  Mr.  Scott  gave  the 
promise  of  a  hundred  pounds  per  annum  for  the  support  of 
the  missionaries,  and  of  ten  pounds  toward  every  chapel  to 
be  built  in  the  islands.  In  fulfilling  this  promise,  he 
always  exceeded  the  amount  at  first  stipulated,  while  his 
admirable  wife,  and  her  sister,  the  late  Miss  Granger,  of 
Bath,  added  also  their  handsome  donations.  It  should  also 
be  mentioned,  that  Mr.  Scott  subsequently  bequeathed  the 
sum  of  three  thousand  pounds  in  trust  for  the  Zetland  mis- 
sions. Dr.  Clarke  was  one  of  the  trustees.  From  the 
Honorable  Sophia  Ward,  Miss  Birch,  Miss  Williams,  and 
other  ladies,  he  also  received  considerable  amounts  in  addi- 
tion, by  which  he  was  enabled  to  inaugurate  this  undertak- 
ing with  a  fair  prospect  of  perpetuity  and  success. 

The  brethren  appointed  began  and  continued  the  arduous 
task  assigned  them  in  the  spirit  of  true  Christian  missiona- 
ries. They  went  from  isle  to  isle,  in  storm  and  sunshine 
alike,  to  dispense  the  word  of  life  to  a  scattered  population, 
who  heard  them  with  gratitude,  and  gave  good  evidence  too 
that  the  Gospel  had  come  to  them  not  in  word  only,  but 
with  powerful  grace.  In  this  work  the  two  preachers  had 
to  endure  hardness,  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ.  Their 
employment  exposed  them  to  much  physical  discomfort  and 
danger,  and  their  way  was  sometimes  rendered  the  more 
discouraging  by  the  opposition  of  the  few  Scottish  clergy 
located  in  the  islands.  Though  the  state  of  the  people  suf- 
ficiently proved  that  this  evangelic  help  was  painfully 
needed,  those  gentlemen  were  far  from  being  disposed  to 
accord  it  their  welcome.  This,  however,  did  not  deter  the 
two  brethren  or  their  successors  from  doing  their  duty,  and 
doing  it  with  a  blessed  return. 


408  LIFE  OT1  ADAM  CLARKE. 

To  describe  the  minute  and  earnest  interest  which  Dr. 
Clarke  took  in  this  mission  would  require  details  too  mul- 
titudinous for  our  limits.  By  referring  to  the  twelfth  vol- 
ume of  his  Works,  the  reader  will  find  a  variety  of  papers, 
geographical,  statistical,  epistolary,  and  narrative,  all  bear- 
ing on  the  subject.  Twice  the  Doctor  undertook  a  pilgrim- 
age by  land  and  sea  to  visit  the  missionaries  on  their  far- 
off  stations,  to  see  the  people  for  himself,  and  to  preach 
among  them  the  riches  of  Christ.  The  first  voyage  was  in 
1826.  On  account  of  his  then  advanced  period  of  life,  and 
his  frequent  ailments,  the  project  gave  Mrs.  Clarke  and  the 
family  no  small  uneasiness ;  but  their  fears  were  allayed  by 
the  words  of  faith  with  which  he  addressed  them.  "  It 
seems,"  said  he,  "  a  work  which  God  has  given  me  to  do ; 
I  must  go  on  till  he  stops  me.  To  sacrifice  my  life,  at  the 
command  or  in  the  work  of  God,  is,  as  to  pain  or  difficulty, 
no  more  to  me  than  a  burnt  straw.  My  life  is  his,  and  he 
will  not  take  it  away  out  of  the  regular  course,  unless 
greatly  to  his  glory  and  my  good.  ...  If  I  am  enabled  to 
take  the  journey,  fear  not  for  me  ;  for  I  shall  be  most  cer- 
tainly supported  through  it.  I  am  sure  God  will  not  bury 
me  in  the  Northern  Ocean." 

Of  this  expedition  we  have  a  full  account  in  a  journal 
kept  at  the  time.  On  the  1st  of  June,  with  his  son,  Mr. 
John  Clarke,  he  left  London ;  and  at  Edingburgh  he  was 
joined  by  Messrs.  Campion  and  Mackey.  It  was  not  till 
the  Oth  that  they  could  secure  a  passage  to  the  islands, 
which  at  length  was  accomplished  in  the  Admiralty's  cutter, 
the  "  Woodlark,"  Captain  Trembly.  "  We  got  o»  pretty 
well  till  (June  15)  we  came  to  the  Pentland  Frith. 
Here  was  a  monstrous  sea,  tide  conflicting  with  tide  raised 
the  billows  to  a  fearful  height ;  but,  as  the  wind  was  fair, 
our  cutter  cut  through  all.  Near  the  Fair  Isle  the  wind 
changed,  and  blew  a  hurricane;  the  sea  wrought  and  was 
tempestuous.  We  seemed  to  have  arrived  at  the  end  of 
the  globe,  where  nature  existed  in  chaotic  uproar.  There 
appeared  a  visible  rage  and  anger  in  every  wave ;  such 


THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  409 

trernenduous  thunder,  while  the  waves  and  the  Lillows  of 
the  Almighty  went  over  us.  ...  At  length  the  angry  wind 
chopped  about,  the  storm  became  more  moderate,  and  we 
had  at  least  a  fair  gale,  though  the  sea  was  still  tremend- 
ous." On  the  17th  they  dropped  anchor  in  Bressa  Bay, 
and  the  barren  mountains  of  Zetland  rose  to  their  view. 
On  landing  he  found  three  of  the  preachers,  "  who  had  been 
on  the  look-out  three  days."  On  the  morrow,  Sunday, 
June  18,  he  preached  in  the  new  chapel  at  Lerwick,  "  a 
light  airy  building,  in  every  respect  a  credit  to  the  place." 
The  congregation  large,  respectable,  attentive.  The  Sunday 
school  had  eighty  children  ;  the  teachers,  some  of  the  most 
respectable  of  the  youth  of  the  town.  On  Tuesday  evening  he 
preached  again,  and  in  a  discourse  on  the  "  Sum  and  Sub- 
stance of  Apostolic  Preaching,"  (subsequently  published,) 
gave  an  exposition  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Methodists.  The 
rest  of  the  week  he  spent  in  perambulations  and  passages 
among  the  islands,  making  minute  observations  on  the 
country  and  the  condition  of  the  people,  and  imparting  to 
them  in  conversation  and  public  addresses  counsels  which 
he  thought  would  do  them  good.  He  speaks  highly  of  the 
hospitality  he  received  from  several  families ;  but  notes 
that,  on  returning  to  Lerwick,  "  what  with  the  incessant 
pain  I  had  suffered,  my  different  water  passages,  the  long 
and  fatiguing  walks,  and  this  last  ride"  (among  the  moun- 
tains and  rocks)  "  on  the  ponies,  I  was  most  excessively 
wearied ;  indeed,  so  ill  as  to  be  obliged  to  take  to  my  bed, 
where  I  suffered  more  pain  than  I  have  felt  for  years." 

"  June  29.  I  have  met  all  the  preachers,  and  made  provi- 
sional appointments  and  arrangements  which  are  for  the 
Conference  to  ratify.  I  feel  utterly  incapable  of  additional 
fatigue.  My  natural  force  is  abated,  my  eye  is  become 
dim,  and  my  days  of  extra  labor  are  over.  30th.  Distrib- 
uted blankets,  rugs,  flannel  shawls,  and  hymn-books  among 
the  poor  people.  July  2.  Preached  to  a  large  and  deeply 
attentive  congregation  from  Luke  xiii,  23 :  '  Are  there 
few  that  be  saved  V  and  in  the  evening  from  Rom.  xv,  4." 


410  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLAKKE. 

This  sermon,  on  "  God's  Mercy  in  the  Gift  of  Revelation," 
was  afterward  published,  with  a  dedication  "  to  the  gentry 
and  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Lerwick." 

The  voyagers  embarked  on  board  the  "  Norna "  on  the 
6th  of  July,  and  gained  the  bay  of  Aberdeen  after  six  days' 
conflict  with  the  winds  and  tides.  On  the  12th  the  doctor 
arrived  in  Edinburgh,  and  proceeded  home  most  gratefully, 
though  with  pleasure  chastened  by  the  painful  intelligence, 
which  met  him  in  the  Scottish  capital,  that  his  dear  friend 
and  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Butterworth,  was  no  more. 

Two  years  later  Dr.  Clarke  made  a  second  visitation  to 
those  remote  stations.  "  I  am  now  preparing  (February 
20,  1828)  to  take  another  voyage  to  Shetland.  There  are 
some  things  that  remain  to  be  done  for  that  interesting  peo- 
ple, which  I  think  no  man  can  do  but  myself.  My  life  is 
the  Lord's ;  I  take  it  in  my  hand,  and  make  it  a  most  free- 
will offering  to  him.  His  work  there  is  the  most  glorious, 
deep,  extensive,  and  steady  I  have  ever  known ;  for  its  sup- 
port God  has  given  me  the  hearts  of  the  people,  who  have 
most  liberally  helped  me.  The  preachers  have  been  faith- 
ful and  laborious.  When  I  saw  the  effects  of  the  labors  of 
those  two  young  men,  Messrs.  Dunn  and  Raby,  I  have  been 
astonished." 

The  party  on  this  second  occasion  embarked  at  Whitby 
on  the  18th  of  June  ;  the  passage  excellent,  as  on  the  21st 
they  landed  at  Lerwick,  having  seen  the  sun  that  morning 
"  rising  between  two  and  three  o'clock — no  previous  night." 
From  that  day  to  the  18th  of  July,  he  was  hard  at  work  in 
various  parts  of  the  Zetland  group,  "  from  Sumburgh  Head 
south,  to  the  Scaw  of  Unst  in  the  north."  In  the  Societies 
he  found,  in  Lerwick  420  members  ;  in  Walls,  455 ;  North 
Mavin,  115;  Yell,  250;  besides  a  number  in  Foula  and 
the  Fair  Isle.  He  met  the  Sunday-school  children,  "  to  dis- 
cover the  most  necessitous,  that  1  might  provide  them  with 
some  clothing ;"  and  on  the  26th  and  27th  of  June  he  em- 
ployed thechief  part  of  the  day  in  apportioning  clothing  of  dif- 
ferent kinds  to  the  extremely  poor  in  the  different  islands. 


THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  411 

"  Having  invited  the  magistrates,  professional  gentlemen, 
and  merchants  of  the  town  to  dine  with  me  on  board  the 
'Henry,'  they  came;  and  for  the  place  and  circumstances 
the  dinner  was  satisfactory,  and  all  seemed  pleased.  The 
conversation  turned  upon  subjects  of  science,  and  matters 
in  which  the  reality  of  the  invisible  world  is  concerned,  and 
was  upon  the  whole  both  useful  and  improving. 

"  Sunday,  July  6.  Having  crossed  the  high  hills,  a  con- 
geries of  serpentine  rocks,  we  passed  Haroldswick,  and  at 
length  reached  Northwick,  (lat.  61°,)  the  farthest  town  or 
habitation  north  in  the  British  dominions.  Here  I  preached 
on  Job  xxii,  21 :  '  Acquaint  now  thyself  with  Him,  and  be 
at  peace ;  that  thereby  good  may  come  unto  thee.'  There 
was  no  other  sermon  preached  on  this  day  between  this  spot 
and  the  North  Pole.  A  press  of  people.  I  returned  on 
foot,  accompanied  by  six  persons  who  had  come  sixteen 
miles  to  hear  the  preaching.  I  took  them  aboard  to  dine, 
and  they  are  just  gone  off  in  our  boat  to  regain  the  shore, 
most  deeply  affected." 

On  the  llth  he  laid  the  foundation  stone  of  a  chapel  in 
the  island  of  Foula.  Once  more  arrived  in  Lerwick,  early 
on  Sunday,  the  13th,  "  I  went  on  shore  to  enjoy  the  luxury 
of  clean  things  and  a  good  washing.  By  the  time  this  was 
done  the  preaching  hour  arrived,  and  without  eating  a  mor- 
sel I  had  to  go  into  the  pulpit.  It  is  strange  I  should  have 
been  capable  of  this  after  exposure  on  the  deck  for  twenty 
hours.  I  found  power  in  preaching. 

"  July  17.  Weighed  anchor  and  stood  out  of  Bressa 
Sound.  May  God  grant  us  a  prosperous  voyage  !  Several 
friends  came  aboard,  and  many  are  following  along  shore  to 
get  the  last  view  of  us.  God  be  with  this  people  forever." 

The  full  journal  of  these  voyages  may  be  seen  in  the 
twelfth  volume  of  Dr.  Clarke's  Works,  along  with  several 
other  papers  relating  to  the  Zetland  Isles  and  the  Wesleyan. 
missions  there.  The  same  volume  contains,  also,  a  valuable 
mass  of  correspondence  with  the  missionaries. 

The  manifestations  of  benevolence  unfolded  in  this  chap- 


412  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

ter  must  not  be  regarded  as  fitful  impulses  or  isolated  facts 
in  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  but  as  occurrences 
which  are  but  parts  of  a  series  which  formed  the  general 
tenor  of  his  life ;  a  life  spent  in  doing  good,  sanctified, 
adorned,  ennobled  by  the  spirit  of  that  genuine  Christianity 
which  magnifies  God  in  the  highest,  and  creates  the  fruits  of 
peace  and  good-will  among  men. 

"  Thy  care  was  fixed,  and  zealously  employed 
To  fill  thy  odorous  lamp  with  deeds  of  light, 
And  hope  that  reaps  not  shame." 


THE   FRIEND.  418 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   FKIEND. 

IT  may  be  inferred,  from  the  traits  of  his  character  inci- 
dentally unfolded  in  the  past  narrative,  that  Dr.  Clarke's 
personal  disposition  had  a  strong  tendency  to  inspire  and 
reciprocate  those  sweet  and  elevating  sentiments  which 
come  under  the  common  name  of  friendship.  And  in  no 
man  were  the  elements  of  this  social  virtue  more  vigorous 
or  more  strongly  developed.  True  worth  always  found  in 
him  a  sincere  and  generous  admirer  ;  and  by  whomsoever  a 
feeling  of  affection  was  shown  for  himself,  it  was  sure  to 
create  in  his  soul,  and  call  forth  in  his  conduct,  a  grateful 
return.  His  benevolent  instincts,  naturally  strong,  were  re- 
fined by  the  sanctifying  grace  of  God ;  and  his  friendship, 
worthy  of  the  name,  was  warm  in  its  nature  and  profitable 
in  its  effects.  It  had  a  heartiness  which  made  itself  sub- 
stantially felt  by  those  who  shared  it ;  far  from  an  artificial, 
capricious,  and  vanishing  sentiment,  it  became  one  of  the 
realities  of  his  life  and  their  own.  Hence  most  of  the 
friendships  he  formed  were  prolonged  with  the  days  of  mor- 
tality, and  many  of  them  have  been  resumed,  we  have  rea- 
son to  believe,  in  that  region  of  love  where  the  spirits  of 
the  just  are  made  perfect. 

In  his  intercourse  with  friends  there  was  a  peculiar  charm 
about  Dr.  Clarke's  conversation,  arising  from  the  intrinsic 
value  of  what  he  said,  combined  with  his  kindly  and  cheer- 
ful manner  of  saying  it.  In  mixed  company,  like  many 
other  great  scholars,  he  was  often  silent  and  awkwardly  re- 
served ;  but,  surrounded  with  men  and  women  of  congenial 
principles  with  his  own,  his  mind  and  heart  gave  freely 
forth  the  precious  things  with  which  they  were  stored.  The 


414  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

endless  variety  of  knowledge  he  had  amassed  from  the 
books  of  all  human  literature,  from  the  living  book  of 
society,  from  God's  book  of  nature,  and,  above  all,  from 
God's  written  book  of  revelation,  was  all  laid  under  contri- 
bution to  instruct  the  mind,  make  the  heart  cheerful,  and  the 
life  better.  What  Herder  said  of  J.  P.  Richter  may  be 
affirmed  of  Dr.  Clarke's  conversation :  "  Every  time  that 
we  are  together  he  opens  anew  the  treasures  that  the  three 
wise  men  brought — the  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh ;  and 
the  star  always  goes  before  him." 

Among  the  friends  of  Dr.  Clarke  were  persons  of  all 
grades  of  society,  even  from  the  prince  to  the  peasant  and 
the  mechanic.  He  found,  too,  a  sacred  and  refining  pleasure 
in  good  female  society ;  and  in  the  number  of  those  who 
were  privileged  to  be  ranked  with  his  intimate  friends  were 
several  ladies  distinguished  for  their  talents  and  piety. 
Such  was  Mrs.  Tighe,  the  admired  authoress  of  "  Psyche." 
Of  this  celebrated  lady  there  is  no  separate  biography  ;  but 
a  copious  and  well-written  account  of  her  has  been  given  in 
Mrs.  R.  Smith's  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Moore;  in 
whom,  as  in  Mr.  Wesley  and  Dr.  Clarke,  the  poetess  had  a 
devoted  friend.  We  may  also  mention  Mrs.  Hall,  the  sister 
of  Mr.  Wesley,  who  was  not  inferior  to  the  other  members 
of  that  remarkable  family  in  the  gifts  of  genius  and  the  vir- 
tues of  religion ;  Miss  Sarah  Wesley,  the  daughter  of  Charles, 
who  entertained  for  Dr.  Clarke,  to  her  dying  hour,  the 
warmest  sentiments  of  veneration ;  Miss  Tooth,  a  mutual 
friend,  who  still  survives  them  ;  Mrs.  Agnes  Bulmer,  another 
poetess  whose  harp  is  now  tuned  to  the  songs  of  the  blessed  ; 
Mrs.  Mary  Cooper,  of  whose  saintly  life  the  Doctor  himself 
wrote  the  memorial ;  and  Miss  Mary  Freeman  Shepherd, 
whom  I  mention  last,  being  wishful  to  give  an  idea  of  her 
extraordinary  character  in  some  extracts  from  her  letters  to 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Clarke.  Though  a  native  of  England,  Miss 
Shepherd  was,  on  her  mother's  side,  of  Italian  ancestry,  by 
descent  from  the  Faletti  of  Piedmont,  a  family  which  once 
held  the  rank  of  sovereign  princes.  She  received  her  edu- 


THE   FRIEND.  415 

cation  in  a  convent  at  Rome,  and  was  brought  up  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Romish  Church.  But  her  mind  soon  proved  it- 
self too  high  for  the  puerilities  of  the  Papal  system;  and, 
though  she  unhappily  retained  a  nominal  union  with  it,  her 
theological  principles  and  religious  affections  were  brought 
by  degrees  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  evangelic  creed,  and  to 
union  with  its  true  confessors  of  every  name.  She  was  an 
earnest  admirer  of  Mr.  Wesley ;  and  when  Dr.  Coke  was 
«at  Paris  during  the  Revolution  time,  as  mentioned  on  a 
previous  page,  Miss  Shepherd,  being  then  resident  in  a  con- 
vent in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germaine,  did  him  good  service 
by  her  influence  with  the  commissioner  for  ecclesiastical 
property,  in  extricating  him  from  the  embarrassment  arising 
from  the  purchase  of  a  church  for  which  he  could  get  no 
congregation.  Gifted  with  uncommon  vigor  of  intellect,  and 
being  an  habitual  student,  she  became  one  of  the  eminently 
learned  persons  of  the  day.  Her  knowledge  of  Hebrew, 
both  Biblical  and  rabbinical,  was  excellent ;  and  her  love 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Hebrew  people  themselves,  ardent, 
prayerful,  and  profound.  Let  us  hear  her : 

"  In  1789,  when  I  was  at  Rome,  provoked  at  the  shocking 
insults  and  indignities  which  I  daily  beheld  in  the  public 
streets  exercised  without  constraint  on  the  poor,  harmless, 
unoffending  Jews,  I  said  to  David  Toscano,  one  of  the  teach- 
ers in  the  synagogue  in  the  Ghetto,  and  my  instructor  in 
rabbinical  Hebrew :  '  My  good  friend,  I  wonder  at  your 
patience  under  such  treatment :  nay,  more,  I  deem  it  coward- 
ice, unworthy  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  Joshua,  and 
Caleb.  You  are  at  least  eighteen  hundred  Hebrews  in  the 
Ghetto.  Give  me  but  eight  hundred,  ay,  only  five  hundred 
resolute  men  from  among  you,  and  I,  although  a  woman, 
will  put  myself  at  your  head,  and  engage,  with  the  help  of 
the  God  of  Israel,  to  drive  before  me  like  a  flock  of  geese  all 
this  long-coated  dastardly  herd  of  priests  and  monks,  with 
which  Rome  is  now  filled,  to  the  disgrace  of  Christianity.'* 

*  The  reader  will,  doubtless,  appreciate  the  courage  of  this  warlike 
Lidy.  In  regard  to  some  of  the  extracts  following,  we  must  interpose  a 


416  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

"  This  was  his  noble,  generous  answer :  '  O  signora,  we 
feel  your  love,  your  zeal  for  Israel,  to  our  inmost  souls. 
But,  ill  as  we  are  used,  we  must  remember  it  is  our 
duty  never  to  forget  that,  persecuted  all  over  the  globe, 
Rome  permitted  us  here  an  asylum,  and  the  free  exer- 
cise, in  this  Ghetto,  of  our  religion.  Rome  still,  though 
under  humiliating  guidances,  tolerates  the  Hebrews  within 
her  walls.  These  insults  are  part  of  the  curse  denounced 
on  the  infractors  of  his  law  by  the  just  and  holy  God.  We 
have  sinned,  we  bow  our  heads ;  but  must  not  lift  up  our 
hands  against  the  people  and  nation  that  received  us  into 
its  bosom  when  none  else  would.  And  when  our  justly 
angered  God  will  turn  our  captivity,  he  can  and  will  do  it 
without  our  ingratitude  to  Rome.  But  we  tremble  for  your 
safety,  should  you  too  warmly  speak  in  our  favor.'  '  Never 
fear.  Is  not  the  Lord  God  of  your  fathers  able  to  protect 
me  ?  He  will ;  and  I  will  speak  and  spare  not.'  And  so  I 
did.  A  few  days  after,  being  with  Santini,  one  of  the  con- 
suls at  Rome,  I  repeated  to  him  the  above  conversation  with 
D.  Toscano,  neither  suppressing  nor  softening  a  syllable. 
In  a  very  angry  tone  Santini  said,  '  Do  you  know  you  may 
be  sent  to  the  Inquisition  for  this  ?'  '  Yes,  I  do  know  it. 
Send  me,  if  you  dare.  It  shall"  be  the  worst  day's  work  you 
ever  did.  I  dare  to  venture  everything,  rather  than  not  let 
you  know  how  deserving  the  poor  Jews  are  of  better  treat- 
ment than  you  show  them.'  .  .  .  Yet,  for  all  this,  I  was  loved 
by  the  people  at  Rome ;  respected  by  those  of  higher  rank, 
and  treated  with  distinguished  notice  and  every  courteous 
attention  at  the  Vatican  library,  museum,  and  Pope's  palace, 

word  or  two.  Though  the  writer  of  these  remarkable  letters  was,  to  a 
great  extent,  estranged  from  Romish  superstitions  and  observances,  yet 
the  influence  of  her  early  associations  is  too  plainly  traceable  in  the 
sequel ;  and  of  this  some  whose  intimacy  she  enjoyed  had  melancholy 
proof.  It  ia  hardly  needful  to  remark,  in  addition,  that  no  creature  can 
innocently  affect  to  be  more  benevolent  than  the  groat  and  blessed  Maker 
of  all.  Hence  the  encomium  on  the  Jews  who  prolonged  their  prayers, 
in  order  to  afford  the  more  relief  to  the  souls  in  perdition,  must  be  quali- 
fied, oilier  fancies,  which  will  occur  to  the  reader,  are  more  or  less  in- 
nocent; but  the  tone  of  them  is  by  no  means  tlu;  most  salutary. 


THE   FRIEND.  417 

and  every  place  of  note  in  the  city.  But  my  poor,  loving, 
grateful  Jews  trembled  for  my  safety ;  and  the  day  I  left 
Rome  two  stout  young  men  were  sent  by  the  synagogue  to 
keep  in  view  my  post-chaise,  and  put  up  at  the  same  inn,  all 
the  road  through  the'Papal  territories.  All  unknown  to  me 
[was]  their  kindness ;  only  I  saw  another  chaise,  with  the 
curtains  drawn  in  front,  following  mine,  until,  at  the  inn  at 
Sienna,  the  two  Hebrew  youths  respectfully  came  up,  took 
their  leave,  and  told  me  that  1  was  now  safe  in  Tuscany. 
Nor  was  this  all.  Scarce  had  I  been  two  hours  in  Leghorn, 
when  a  near  relation  of  David  Toscano.  with  the  second 
rabbi  of  the  synagogue,  the  amiable,  pious,  and  learned 
Rabbi  Castello,  came  to  my  hotel,  with  every  tender  of 
kindest  services.  And  thus  they  did  at  every  place,  fore- 
stalling my  arrival  at  Avignon,  etc.  Letters  came  before  I 
came ;  the  kindness  was  prepared  to  meet  me ;  and  all  this 
to  an  inconsiderable  nobody,  only  for  loving  their  nation, 
and  speaking  in  their  favor.  O  God,  remember  them  for 
good ! 

"That  gratitude,  and  even  humanity  toward  the  brute 
creation,  (for  the  Hebrews  neither  hunt,  shoot,  angle,  nor 
horse-course,  nor  bull-fight,  cock-fight,  etc.,)  is  a  character- 
istic of  Israel,  who  that  reads  their  Scriptures,  their  law, 
their  history,  can  deny  ?  The  very  reveries  of  their  rabbins 
in  sending  Pharaoh's  daughter,  soul  and  body,  like  Elijah, 
into  heaven,  for  saving  the  life  of  Moses,  testify ;  [and  so] 
the  ass  that  carried  Abraham  to  Mount  Moriah,  prolonged 
in  life  to  carry  Moses  to  deliver  Israel,  and  as  miraculously 
preserved  to  carry  the  King  Messiah  to  his  triumphant  reign  ; 
Noah's  dove,  Elijah's  ravens,  Daniel's  lions,  and  every 
creature  that  had  done  services  to  Israel — [all  being]  put  in 
a  place  of  happiness  in  the  day  of  the  Messiah's  triumph. 
Even  in  these  rabbinical  ideas,  how  beautiful  on  the  mount- 
ains of  Israel  appear,  to  the  heart  that  feels,  the  very  wander- 
ing feet  of  erring  gratitude !  There  is  something  too  won- 
drous, good-natured,  and  pitiful,  in  that  notion  of  theirs,  that, 
during  the  holy  prayers  of  flio  synagogue  on  the  Sablnilh. 


418  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

the  very  damned  are  permitted  to  come  out  of  hell,  and  en- 
joy their  Sabbath.  And,  accordingly,  the  Jews  begin  their 
prayers  as  soon,  and  end  them  as  late  as  possible,  to  give 
even  the  damned  a  longer  holiday !  Now  this,  I  must  own, 
is  far  kinder  than  our  priests.  The  Jews  prolong  their 
prayers,  for  the  lost  spirits'  ease,  without  getting  a  farthing 
profit  by  it.  Ours,  alas  !  no  penny,  no  Pater — no, 
not  for  the  poor  suffering  souls,  their  own  brethren,  in 
purgatory ! 

"  I  remember  reading  that  beautiful  passage  in  Exodus : 
'  Moses  was  fourscore  years  old  when  he  stood  before 
Pharaoh.'  I  observed  to  the  Jew  that  taught  me  Hebrew 
in  Paris,  Mordecai  Ventura,  interpreter  of  Oriental  languages 
at  the  Royal  Library  :  '  How  admirably  Moses  gives  us  to 
understand  that  the  Most  High  so  long  delayed  to  deliver 
Israel,  that  Pharaoh,  and  she  who  had  reared  him  up  as  her 
son  in  her  father's  palace,  might  live  to  a  good  old  age,  and 
die  in  peace,  before  Moses  was  sent  to  inflict  the  plagues  of 
Egypt,  lest  the  rod  of  Moses  should  be  soiled  by  ingrati- 
tude.' '  Observe  still  more,'  eagerly  exclaimed  Ventura, 
'  when  the  waters  of  Egypt  were  to  be  smitten  and  turned 
into  blood,  God  commands  Aaron,  not  Moses.  They  had 
borne  him  up  safely  in  the  bulrush-ark  on  their  bosom. 
Could  he  strike  them  with  a  curse  1  Aaron  owed  them  no 
debt :  he  might  smite.  The  same,  when  the  dust  of  Egypt 
was  to  be  smitten.  .  .  Aaron  was  to  stretch  his  hand  and 
smite — not  Moses,  whom  that  land  had  forty  years  fed  with 
regal  dainties.  Aaron  had  toiled  coarsely  and  fared  scantily 
at  the  brick-kilns.' 

"  In  the  sacred  writings  throughout,  there  is  a  holy  vein 
of  gratitude.  Edom  is  the  brother ;  so  is  Ishmael ;  hurt 
them  not.  Moab  and  Ammon,  children  of  Lot ;  vex  them 
not  unprovoked.  Thou  wast  a  stranger  kindly  received  at 
first  in  Egypt ;  ever  remember  the  benefit — hate  not  an 
Egyptian.  Remember  the  kindness  of  Jethro  ;  so  the  Kenits 
dwelt  in  Israel.  Jesus  must  needs  pass  through  Samaria; 
there  caused  he  the  streams  of  Jacob's  well,  the  living,  life- 


THE   FRIEND.  419 

giving  waters  of  salvation,  to  flow  to  Shechem,  to  more  than 
repair  the  murders  of  Simeon  and  Levi."* 

We  will  make  room  for  another,  written  to  Dr.  Clarke  on 
occasion  of  one  of  his  family  bereavements  : 

"  Open  and  read  this  letter  in  some  calm,  happy  moment. 
It  is  on  a  tender  subject,  and  as  much  as  you  can  bear  ;  more 
than  you  could,  in  a  less  exalted  frame  of  thought.  May 
the  good  Spirit  of  the  most  holy  God  give  healing  benedic- 
tion to  a  poor  Samaritan's  chirurgery. 

"  Your  letter,  my  dear  sir.  most  forcibly  recalls  the  well- 
known  reply  of  ./Eneas  to  Dido.  Yet,  be  assured  that,  so  far 
from  seeking  to  renew  your  griefs,  of  the  losses  that  caused 
them  I  was  totally  ignorant,  or  I  had  left  my  good  Balmar 
embalmed  in  his  virtues  at  Paris,  But  since  I  have  brought 
him  over  to  London  in  my  letter,  may  we  not  make  some 
worthy  use  of  him  ?  You  say,  '  Had  he  reared  his  departed 
children  up  to  one,  two,  and  five  years  old,  he  would  have 
felt  very  differently.'  Undoubtedly  ;  and  the  more  he  felt 
the  more  would  those  feelings  have  furnished  fire  and  wood 
for  the  burnt-ofFering.  To  people  in  the  laborious  classes 
of  life  in  Paris,  and  more  especially  when  of  Balmar  and  his 
wife's  serious,  domesticated  cast  of  mind,  tenderly  loving 
each  other,  industrious,  prospering  in  their  industry,  both  of 
them  of  good  natural  understanding,  cultivated  by  a  plain, 
useful  education,  improved  by  religion,  and  by  religion  raised 
to  that  simplex  munditiis  of  Christian  elegance  in  mind  and 
manners,  [with]  feelings  acutely  alive  to  every  fine  impulse 
and  ofttimes  expressed  with  a  refinement  of  delicacy  that 
would  have  done  honor  to  a  prince,  of  which  I  could  give 
instances  :  to  him  and  his  wife  children  must  have  been  very 
desirable ;  at  least  a  boy,  to  be  the  pleasant  auxiliary  of 
his  labors,  the  staff  of  his  declining  years ;  a  girl,  the  com- 
fort and  companion  of  them  both,  the  nursing-mother  of  their 
age,  and  with  her  brother  the  joint  inheritor  of  their  sub- 
stance and  virtues.  With  an  if — if  God  had  so  pleased — 
he  and  his  wife  would  have  been  glad  their  children  had, 
*  Letter  to  Dr.  Clarke. 


420  LIFE  OF    ADAM   CLARKE. 

lived.  God  took  away  all  his  children — did  not  leave 
him  one.  Yet  he  not  only  submitted,  but  with  Abraham's 
faith  gave  them  up  to  God ;  and,  with  the  tears  of  a  father, 
could  sing  nevertheless  the  song  of  ascension,  Psalm  cxxii. 
"  You  have  lost  six  children,  it  is  true ;  but  God  hath 
left  you  six.  He  took  away  all,  every  one  of  Balmar's. 
But  half  of  yours  are  left ;  and  not  one,  you  own,  has  yet 
given  you  the  heart-ache.  Had  their  mother  so  written  I 
should  have  made  large  allowance  for  the  tenderness  of  our 
weaker  sex.  But  you,  a  man,  not  only  'Adam'  but  'JsA,' 
is  it  thus  that  you  strengthen  your  wife  ?  Your  lovely 
Adam,  and  angel  Agnes,  I  saw  them  continually  in  my 
mind's  eye  ;  and  as  you  pictured  the  little  boy  standing  at 
your  knee,  playing  with  your  watch-chain,  at  half-past  one, 
in  the  full  light  of  day — methinks  his  action  reads  this  les- 
son :  'Beloved  father,  as  the  links  of  the  chain  of  your  watch 
to  your  little  Adam,  so  are  the  things  of  this  lower  world, 
mere  toys  and  the  playthings  of  a  child.  As  these  links, 
few  in  number,  to  number  beyond  the  reach  of  numbers  to 
express  ;  so  are  the  years  of  the  life  of  man  upon  earth,  to 
the  countless  years  of  eternity.  Yet  on  these  counted  years 
hang  the  countless  years  of  eternity  !  attached  thereto,  as 
this  horologer,  the  recorder  of  the^  hours,  which  we  call  a 
watch.  Within,  closed  up  in  the  inward  case,  therefore  un- 
seen, is  a  moving  spring.  Its  effects  are  visible  in  the 
moved  hands  on  the  dial-plate,  as  they  mark  the  minutes  and 
hours  ;  ere  they  shall  thrice  have  moved  round  this  dial-plate, 
time  will  be  no  longer  measured  out  to  your  darling  Adam. 
lie  will  no  more  be  the  son  of  fleeting  time,  but  an  heir  of 
eternity.  The  mortal  in  three  short  hours  is  going  to  be 
clothed  with  immortality.  Weep  not,  father  ;  whither  I  go 
you  also  shall  come.  Your  infant  precursor,  whose  affec- 
tions, improved  not  here  through  weakness,  hi  heaven  will 
bmithe  the  uncontaminated  air  of  innocence,  and,  as  it  were, 
prepare  an  unimpeded  ascent  to  your  prayers.  My  father, 
perhaps  I  may  be  permitted  to  be  a  ministering  spirit  of 
good  to  my  parents  and  brethren.'  I  think,  then,  how  it 


THE    FEIEND.  421 

would  grieve  your  child,  while  thus  employed,  to  see  heart- 
rending pangs  heave  his  father's  bosom,  while  his  child,  more 
alive  than  ever,  is  hovering  over  him  a  guardian-angel ! 
And  sainted  Agnes — O,  could  she  touch  her  father's  heart 
and  lips  with  a  burning  coal  from  the  altar,  and  give  him  a 
view  like  that  of  Isaiah  the  year  that  King  Uzziah  died,  both 
heart  and  lips  would  burst  forth  into  joyful  praise  that  God 
had  taken  his  Agnes  to  himself  in  the  beauty  and  purity  of 
holiness.  .  .  .  Nay,  were  she  only  till  the  great  day  in  the 
bosom  of  Abraham,  and  heard  from  that  patriarch's  own 
mouth  the  narrative  of  his  victory  over  a  father's  feelings, 
when  commanded  not  only  to  give  up,  but  to  sacrifice  his 
only  and  beloved  Isaac,  not  only  the  son  of  hope,  but  the 
heir  of  promise,  thirty-six  years  of  age,  Abraham  136  ;  no 
demur,  no  delay  !  .  .  .  . 

"  O  love  henceforward  the  descendants  of  such  a  father, 
even  though  he  should  be  of  the  Ashtarothin's  congrega- 
tion. For  Abraham's  sake  tenderly  pity  them,  though  en- 
crusted all  over  with  the  sufferings  of  Polander  or  German. 
What  people  can  boast  of  a  father  like  Abraham,  to  whom 
the  God  of  righteous  judgment  could  assign  such  blessings  ? 
And  blessed  Miriam,  the  mother  of  Yehoshua,  stabat — non 
recumbens — stabat  Mater  by  the  cross  of  her  Son.  These 
are  examples  more  worthy  of  imitation  than  David  crying, 
'  O  Absalom,  my  son,  my  son  !'  Yet  there  was  some  ex- 
cuse for  his  sorrow.  His  son  at  least  went  to  the  spirits 
in  prison ;  yours  are  gone  to  heaven.  Would  that  we 
were  all  there !" 

A  few  detached  sentences  may  be  added,  from  some 
other  letters  of  this  learned  and  amiable  woman  to  Dr. 
Clarke. 

"  My  mind's  constitution  is  the  reverse  of  somber.  In 
my  best  moods,  I  leap  as  the  roebuck  over  mountains  of 
spices ;  in  its  worst  it  bursts  forth  as  the  volcanoes  of  Etna 
and  Vesuvius ;  yet  thanks,  immortal  thanks,  to  the  Almighty 
who  stilleth  the  raging  of  the  winds  and  of  the  sea !" 

"Med  culpa,  mea  maxima  culpa  !     I  mourn,  I  grieve  not 


422  LIFE   OF  ADAM   (JLAKKE. 

as  a  slave  before  his  master,  but  as  a  child  broken-hearted, 
to  have  offended  so  good  a  Father ;  thus  to  have  dishonored 
my  Father's  image  and  name,  and  degraded  mine  own  dig- 
nity of  ifature.  Yet  I  sink  not  hopelessly.  '  Choose  life,' 
my  Father  God  still  says,  '  and  live.'  All  the  commands 
of  God,  perceptive  or  prohibitory,  the  whole  Thorath  Ado- 
nai*  are  for  man's  benefit ;  the  kind  teachings  and  enlight- 
ening of  the  wisdom  of  eternity,  guiding  the  short-lived 
child  of  time  in  the  straight  and  sure  road  of  everlasting 
happiness. 

" '  Choose  life,  and  live.'  '  Thine  arm  is  too  short  to 
reach  life ;  but  thou  art  free  to  choose ;  then  only  choose 
life,  and  1  the  Lord  will  bring  it  to  thee.' " 

"  I  am  persuaded  that  the  history  of  Job  is  a  real  matter 
of  fact.  Have  you  a  mind  to  read  good  Father  Louis  de 
Grenada's  sermons  in  old  French,  f  of  the  days  of  Charles  IX  ? 
There  is  much  sound  timber  in  them,  enough  to  furnish  a 
whole  town  of  modern  buildings. 

"  When  in  your  notes  you  come  to  Isaac's  blessings  to 
Esau,  you  will  observe  how  literally  they  were  ratified  by 
God,  and  will  see  strong  proof  that  Esau  was  not  abhorred 
of  him,  and  how  very  nobly  and  lovingly  he  acted  toward 
his  overreaching  brother  at  their  meeting ;  nor  did  he  ever 
retract  from  their  reconciliation.  I  beseech  you  also  to 
point  out  the  just  penalties  levied  on  the  joint  frauds  of 
Kebekah  and  Jacob.  After  she  sent  him  to  Laban,  she 
never  more  beheld  him ;  and  even  she  herself  disappears  ; 
for  no  further  mention  is  made  of  her  by  upright,  truth- 
loving  Moses  no,  not  so  much  as  of  her  death,  while  of 
only  her  nurse  Deborah  is  much  honoring  record." 

Miss  Shepherd  died  at  an  advanced  age  in  1815. 

In  referring  to  some  of  the  good  men  for  whom  Dr. 

Clarke  cherished  a  personal  and  peculiar  love,  we  should 

give  the  highest  place  to  Mr.  Wesley.     For  him  Adam 

Clarke  ever  felt  the  reverence  of  a  disciple,  and  the  sacred 

*  "  Law  of  the  Lord."        t  Translated  into  it  from  the  Spanish. 


THE   FRIEND.  423 

affection  of  a  son ;  and,  to  his  latest  days,  the  memory  of 
tokens  of  the  particular  esteem  with  which  that  distinguished 
servant  of  God  had  regarded  him,  yielded  a  ceaseless  con- 
solation and  joy. 

Among  the  friends  of  his  early  manhood  was  Andrew 
Coleman,  who  had  been  a  schoolfellow  with  him  at  Agher- 
ton,  and  afterward  became  one  of  the  first-fruits  of  his  min- 
istry, and,  like  himself,  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  One  of 
the  first  essays  of  Adam  Clarke's  pen  was  a  memorial  of 
this  young  evangelist's  short  but  beautiful  career  in  Avhich 
he  writes  in  simple  and  heart-moving  terms  of  "  the.  very 
tender  friendship  which  subsisted  between  these  two."  He 
fell  asleep  in  Jesus,  June  18,  1786,  aged  eighteen  years, 
and  soon  gained  the  blessed  region  where  the  inhabitant 
shall  no  more  say,  "  I  am  sick."  He  had  the  happiness  of 
seeing  his  mother  and  grandmother  brought  to  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  truth  before  his  departure ;  and  his  last  words 
to  them,  as  his  purified  soul  prepared  to  take  its  flight  into 
the  eternal  world,  were,  "  Follow  me." 

Another  of  his  Irish  friends  was  Alexander  Knox,  Esq., 
a  gentleman  whose  name  is  well  known  in  the  literary  and 
ecclesiastical  circles  of  both  islands,  as  an  elegant  theologi- 
cal scholar,*  and  a  man  of  influence  in  the  Church  of  En- 
gland. He  was  a  most  intimate  friend  of  the  late  Bishop 
Jebb.  His  parents  were  Methodists,  and  he  himself  was  a 
devoted  admirer  of  Wesley,  whose  principles  on  experi- 
mental religion  found  a  deep  response  in  his  heart,  and  kept 
him,  in  later  years,  from  going  further  than  he  evidently 
would  have  otherwise  gone,  into  that  semi-Romish  Utopia 
where  so  many  Churchmen  in  our  day  have  wandered  to  no 
profit. 

In  Samuel  Drew,  the  Cornish  metaphysician,  the  Lord 
gave  to  the  juvenile  ministry  of  Mr.  Clarke  a  convert  who 
will  indeed  shine  in  his  "  crown  of  rejoicing  "  in  the  day  of 
Christ.  Drew  soon  became  a  preacher,  and  his  father  in 
the  Gospel  was  not  a  little  proud  of  him  in  that  capacity. 
*  One,  however,  whose  theology  was  not  evangelical. 


424  LIFE   OF   ADAM    CLAKKE. 

His  high  opinion  of  him  as  an  expositor  of  the  truth  in  the 
pulpit,  was  frequently  expressed  in  terms  of  characteristic 
warmth.  The  sanctified  life  and  useful  labors  of  this  Chris- 
tian philosopher  were  ever  contemplated  by  his  friend  with 
an  apostolic  triumph.  "  These  two  "  also  are  made  eter- 
nally one  in  spirit,  through  Him  who  redeemed  them,  con- 
verted them,  employed  them  in  his  service,  and  hath  now 
glorified  them  together. 

Of  the  Rev.  John  Pawson  we  have  spoken  before.  Meth- 
odism in  her  traditions  has  placed  him  among  her  saints. 
Between  him  and  Dr.  Clarke  there  grew  up  a  friendship 
which  never  died.  The  last  act  of  Pawson  was  to  write 
these  words : 

"Wakefield,  Friday,  March  28,  1806.  O  my  Adam, 
my  most  affectionately  beloved  and  esteemed  friend  and 
brother,  for  whom  God  knoweth  I  ever  had  a  sincere 
regard,  but  now  tenfold  more  than  ever,  what  I  have  ex- 
perienced of  the  power,  goodness,  unmerited  mercy,  and 
love  of  God,  during  this  affliction,  is  not  to  be  described. 

0  the    soul-transporting  views  of   that   heavenly   felicity 
with  which  my  soul  hath  been  favored !     Praise  the  name 
of  the  Lord  with  me,  and  for  me ;  and  tell  all  my  beloved 
London   friends,  that  John  Pawson  dies  a  witness  of  the 
saving  power  of  those  precious  truths  which  have  been 
taught,  and  believed,  and  experienced  among  us  from  the 
beginning." 

A  veteran  of  the  same  stamp  was  the  Rev.  James 
Creighton,  one  of  the  clergymen  of  the  Establishment  who 
adhered  to  Mr.  Wesley,  and  took  part  in  the  Methodist 
ministry  ;  a  man  of  learning,  and  of  useful  life  both  in  the 
pulpit  and  the  press.  His  last  testimony  also  occurs  in  a 
letter  to  Dr.  Clarke :  "  I  am  endeavoring  to  weather  out  the 
last  storms  of  life,  hoping  ere  long  to  gain  the  port  at  last. 

1  have  had  a  pretty  rough  passage  of  it,  all  the  way;  but 
I  am  fully  convinced  that  it  was  best  so,  and  that  the  re- 
pose will  be  the  sweeter  when  we  get  to  the  haven  where 
we  would  be. 


THE   FRIEND.  425 

'  O,  what  is  death  ?    'Tis  life's  last  shore, 
Where  vanities  are  vain  no  more ; 
Where  all  pursuits  their  goal  obtain, 
And  life  is  all  retouch'd  again.' 

I  bless  God  I  have  no  fear,  nor  gloomy  thought ;  yet  it  is 
not  ecstasy  or  triumph ;  a  calm  internal  peace,  with  a  firm 
reliance  on  the  promises  of  God,  through  the  atoning 
blood." 

Mr.  Richard  Mabyn,  of  Camel  ford,  at  whose  house  Mr. 
Clarke  in  his  Cornish  days  found  a  pleasant  home,  had  in 
him  a  loving  and  devoted  friend.  When  each  had  become 
a  much  older  man,  Dr.  Clarke,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Mr. 
Mabyn,  writes  thus :  "  I  may  say  that  but  few  hours  to- 
gether have  elapsed  since  the  year  1784,  in  which  I  have 
not  thought  of  you  and  my  most  affectionate  mother 
Mabyn  ;  and  I  have  never  thought  of  you  without  a  blessed 
mixture  of  gratitude  to  my  benefactor,  reverence  to  my 
teacher,  warm  affection  to  my  parent,  and  delight  to  my 
friend." 

Joseph  Carne,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  of  Penzance,  as  well  as  his 
venerable  father,  William  Carne,  Esq.,  had  a  high  place  in 
the  esteem  of  Dr.  Clarke,  both  for  the  great  debt  which  the 
cause  of  Methodism  owes  to  those  gentlemen  in  the  West 
of  Cornwall,  and  for  the  scientific,  religious,  and  social  em- 
inence of  a  family  at  whose  house  the  doctor  in  his  occa- 
sional visits  always  found  a  most  congenial  sojourn.* 

Of  the  late  Mr.  Exley,  of  Bristol,  the  brother-in-law  and 
friend  of  Dr.  Clarke,  I  can  scarcely  trust  myself  to  begin  to 
write,  lest  the  terms  which  the  feelings  of  my  heart  dictate 
should  wear  the  injurious  look  of  exaggeration.  He  was  a 
man  admirable  not  only  for  acuteness  of  intellect,  and  pro- 
found mathematical  and  scientific  research,  but  for  simplicity 
of  character,  benevolence  of  feeling,  and  sanctity  of  life. 
He  wrote  several  works  in  the  higher  branches  of  science, 

*  The  late  Mr.  John  Carne,  the  Eastern  traveler,  and  author  of  "  The 
Lives  of  eminent  Christian  Missionaries,"  and  various  other  works  was 
also  an  intimate  friend  of  the  Clarkes. 


426  LIFE   OF  AUAM   CLAHKK. 

and  an  exposition  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  in  which 
be  seeks  to  harmonize  the  Mosaic  history  of  the  creation 
with  the  conclusions  of  modern  geology.  To  the  Meth- 
odists in  Bristol,  among  whom  he  had  been  a  member, 
leader,  and  local  preacher  for  half  a  century,  growing  in 
grace,  and  turning  many  to  righteousness,  the  death  of 
Thomas  Exley  was  like  the  going  out  of  a  lamp  in  the 
temple  of  God. 

The  name  of  another  inestimable  brother-in-law  of  Dr. 
Clarke,  Mr.  Butterworth,  for  many  years  member  of  Par- 
liament for  Coventry  and  for  Dover,  highly  respected  by 
men  in  the  first  ranks,  has  already  appeared  with  frequency 
in  the  foregoing  pages.  In  him  the  country  lost  a  faithful 
servant,  the  Church  a  faithful  member,  and  the  poor  a  faith- 
ful friend.  Take  an  instance:  One  day  in  each  week  he  re- 
ceived at  his  own  house  the  applications  of  such  as  needed 
pecuniary  relief,  or  advice  in  their  exigencies.  His  servant, 
on  being  once  asked  how  many  petitioners  he  had  on  that 
day  admitted,  answered,  "  Nearly  a  hundred."  Into  these 
cases  Mr.  Butterworth  entered,  in  order  to  make  his  chari- 
ties at  once  discriminating  and  efficient.  The  religious  and 
social  character  of  this  good  man  is  ably  unfolded  in  a 
Funeral  Sermon  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Watson,  preached  at 
Great  Queen-street  Chapel,  on  the'words  of  St.  Paul,  Gala- 
tians  i,  24 :  "  And  they  glorified  God  in  me." 

The  Rev.  Henry  Moore  must  also  be  mentioned  as  one 
of  Dr.  Clarke's  early  companions,  and  as  his  counselor  too  ; 
a  fellow-laborer  with  him  in  the  same  ministry  for  fifty 
years,  and  also  the  sorrowing  friend  who  committed  at  last 
his  remains  to  the  grave.  I  may  state  it  as  a  noticeable 
fact,  that  Mr.  Moore  performed  the  funeral  solemnities  over 
five  members  of  the  family.  He  buried  the  doctor  himself, 
in  1832;  Mrs.  Clarke,  in  1836;  one  of  their  sons,  and  two 
of  their  grandchildren,  in  1840,  himself  being  then  in  the 
eighty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 

That  eminent  Greek  scholar,  the  late  Hugh  Stewart  Boyd, 
Esq.,  stood  related  to  Dr.  Clarke,  not  only  by  consanguin- 


THE  FKIEND.  427 

ity,  but  by  a  cordial  sympathy  of  disposition,  and,  so  far  as 
learning  is  regarded,  of  employment  and  pursuit,  as  well. 
In  classical  and  patristic  erudition  he  was  second  to  few  of 
his  contemporaries.  He  was  remarkable  for  the  strength 
of  what  may  be  called  a  verbal  memory,  which  he  well  im- 
proved by  enriching  his  mind  with  choice  passages  of  the 
sacred  and  classic  writers.  I  have  now  on  my  desk  a 
memorandum  dictated  by  himself,  entitled  "The  Number 
of  Lines  which  I  can  repeat,"  namely  :  "  Greek  prose  :  Sep- 
tuagint,  30;  Greek  Testament,  120;  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
1,860 ;  Basil,  460 ;  Chrysostom,  640 ;  Gregory  Nyssen,  15  ; 
Methodius,  35  ;  Heliodorus.  30  ;  a  few  passages  of  heathen 
writers,  90.  Total  of  Greek  prose,  3.280.  Greek  verse : 
Greg.  Naz.  Carmina,  1,310;  Synessi  Hymni,  156;  Homer, 
330;  ^Eschylus,  1,800;  Sophocles,  430;  Euripides,  350; 
Pindar,  90  ;  Meleager,  83  ;  Bion,  91 ;  Moschus,  120  ;  Poem 
in  Life  of  Plotinus,  10.  Total  of  Greek  verse,  4,770.  I 
cannot  repeat  many  hundred  lines  in  one  consecutive  series. 
The  longest  passage  of  prose  which  I  can  repeat  is  322 
lines ;  the  longest  of  verse,  270  lines. 

"  If  I  keep  the  passages  from  the  Septuagint  and  New 
Testament  for  Sundays,  and  repeat  the  rest  on  week  days, 
they  will  occupy  four  weeks,  if  I  repeat  about  327  lines  a 
day.  The  lines  from  ^Eschylus  are  equal  to  more  than  one 
fifth  of  the  whole  of  his  Tragedies  now  extant." 

Mr.  Boyd  published  two  volumes  of  translations,  consist- 
ing of  passages  from  the  most  eloquent  of  the  Fathers, 
especially  Chrysostom,  Basil,  and  Nazianzen.  He  also 
wrote  a  dissertation  on  the  Greek  Article,  especially  viewed 
in  its  use  in  passages  of  the  New  Testament  which  have  a 
bearing  on  the  grand  truth  of  the  Godhead  of  Christ.  The 
piece  is  inserted  in  Dr.  Clarke's  Commentary,  at  the  end  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  ;  though  we  may  just  remark 
that  the  learned  commentator  himself  had  no  great  faith  in 
what  may  be  called  the  graminatico-theological  doctrine  of 
the  Greek  Article. 

Mr.  Boyd  suffered  in  his  latter  years  from  loss  of  sight ; 


428  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

but  Divine  ruercy  had  so  blessedly  enlightened  the  eyes  of 
his  mind  as  to  enable  him  to  see  and  love  Him  who  is  invis- 
ble.  He  had  those  qualities  of  character  which  attracted 
friendships  and  kept  them  inviolate.  His  blindness  is  the 
theme  of  a  sonnet  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning, 
who  studied  Greek  under  Mr.  Boyd's  tuition ;  and  with 
what  effect,  her  spirited  translation  of  the  "  Prometheus 
Bound"  will  testify.  There  is  another  sonnet  in  the  same 
volume,*  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Boyd  in  1848,  in 
which  she  sings  of  the  feelings  excited  by  some  tokens  of 
friendship  he  bequeathed  to  her. 

"  Three  gifts  the  Dying  left  me — JSschylus, 

And  Gregory  Nazianzen,  and  a  clock, 

Chiming  the  gradual  hours  out  like  a  flock 

Of  stars  whose  motion  is  melodious. 

The  books  were  those  I  used  to  read  from,  thus 

Assisting  my  dear  teacher's  soul  to  unlock 

The  darkness  of  his  eyes.     Now  mine  they  mock, 

Blinded  in  turn  by  tears  !  Now  murmurous 

Sad  echoes  of  my  young  voice  years  agone, 

Entoning  from  these  leaves  the  Grecian  phrase, 

Return,  and  choke  my  utterance.    Books,  lie  down 

In  silence  on  the  shelf  within  rny  gaze ; 

And  thou,  clock,  striking  the  hour's  pulses  on, 

Chime  in  the  day  which  ends  these  parting  days." 

Mr.  Boyd  has  left  a  large  collection  of  papers,  which 
should  not  be  suffered  to  perish  in  oblivion.  Many  of  his 
letters  also  to  Dr.  Clarke  are  richly  worthy  of  publication. 

Another  literary  friend  of  Dr.  Clarke,  Mr.  Charles  Fox, 
we  have  already  had  occasion  to  mention.  With  that  accom- 
plished person,  when  resident  in  Bristol,  he  passed  many  a 
profitable  hour,  in  the  cultivation  of  those  Eastern  studies 
with  which  they  had  both  become  enamored  ;  and  when 
each  had  removed  from  that  locality,  they  still  corresponded 
for  mutual  help.  Nor  was  Mr.  Clarke's  communication 
with  his  friend  without  a  most  beneficial  religious,  as  well 
as  intellectual  fruitage ;  as  it  tended  to  confirm  his  some- 

*  Poems,  vol.  i. 


THE   FRIEND  429 

what  wavering  mind  in  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  lead 
him  to  seek  and  find  the  salvation  of  God.  Mr.  Fox  was 
the  author  of  an  extensive  peom  called  "Leila  and  Mej- 
noon,"  written  after  the  manner  of  the  Persian  poet  Hafiz. 
This,  together  with  several  other  manuscripts,  came  into 
Mr.  Clarke's  care  after  the  death  of  the  author. 

With  these  and  many  others,  whose  names,  if  recorded 
here,  would  swell  into  a  long  and  sad  necrology,  Dr.  Clarke 
lived  in  those  beneficial  intercourses  which  gave  a  solace 
to  their  earthly  life,  and  helped  to  fit  them  for  a  heav- 
enly one. 

Dr.  Clarke's  was  a  friendly  heart,  kind  and  considerate. 
He  wished  to  avoid  giving  offense  to  any  one,  as  much  as  in 
him  lay,  and  was  pained  at  the  thought  of  having  possibly 
done  it  inadvertently.  Here  is  an  instance :  He  had  been 
to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and,  during  a  short  sojourn  at  West 
Cowes,  the  guest  of  Mr.  Charles  Pinhorn,  a  worthy  gentle- 
man who  is  now  almost  the  only  surviving  relict  of  the  first 
generation  of  Methodists  in  the  island.  Mr.  Pinhorn,  being 
in  London  shortly  after,  sought  an  interview  with  the  Doc- 
tor, but  was  unable  to  see  him  except  for  a  few  minutes  in 
the  vestry  of  Lambeth  Chapel  before  Dr.  Clarke  went  into 
the  pulpit.  The  following  extract  of  a  letter  he  received 
shortly  after  from  the  Doctor  will  illustrate  our  remark : 

'•  MY  DEAR  SIR, — 1  wish  there  may  be  no  mistake  in  our 
meeting  last  Sabbath  at  Lambeth.  When  I  came  down 
into  the  vestry  after  preaching,  I  looked  about  to  see  you ; 
but,  not  finding  you,  I  asked  some  of  the  friends,  '  Did  they 
know  whether  Mr.  Pinhorn,  of  the  Isle  of  WTight,  who  was 
in  the  vestry  when  I  first  entered  it  this  morning,  had  left 
the  chapel  V  They  said  they  did  not  know.  '  Will  you 
look  into  the  chapel  and  see.'  One  and  other  said  they  did 
not  know  him.  I  waited  several  minutes,  but  no  appear- 
ance of  Mr.  Pinhorn.  I  was  vexed,  because  I  wished  to 
speak  to  you;  and  I  thought  my  apparently  distant  manner 
might  have  given  you  offense.  The  truth  is.  I  hardly  speak 


430  LIFE    OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

to  any  person  before  I  enter  the  pulpit.  I  generally  feel  the 
work  much  on  my  mind,  and  avoid  as  much  as  possible 
speaking  even  to  my  most  intimate  friends,  till  I  come  down 
from  the  pulpit.  If,  therefore,  there  appeared  in  me  any 
slight  or  neglect  toward  you,  put  it  far  away  from  your 
mind,  for  I  assure  you  it  had  no  existence,  and  this  letter, 
written  simply  on  the  subject,  is  a  proof  that  nothing  of  the 
kind  was  either  in  the  intention  or  the  feeling.  I  do  not 
know  that  I  have  ever  been  in  any  strange  place  for  these  many 
years,  in  which  I  was  so  well  pleased  with  the  affectionate 
respect  that  was  paid  me  as  in  West  Cowes.  .  .  .  You  have 
been  once,  I  am  informed,  at  my  house,  when  I  happened  to 
be  on  a  journey.  If  you  ever  come  near  the  place  again, 
and  will  spend  a  night  with  us,  and  look  about  you,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  see  you." 

The  frequent  removals  to  which  a  Methodist  minister  is 
liable,  broke  in  upon  the  continuity  of  personal  converse, 
but  never  obliterated  the  image  of  a  friend  from  his  heart. 
When,  journeying,  he  revisited  an  old  circuit,  he  improved 
every  hour  in  reviving  the  feelings  of  the  "  auld  lang  syne  " 
at  the  homes  and  hearths  which  memory  had  rendered  sa- 
cred ;  and  some  of  his  letters  to  Mrs.  Clarke,  written  at 
those  times,  are  crowded  with  the  details  of  these  rapid  and 
numerous  visits.  His  friendships  had  the  seal  of  perpetuity ; 
and  with  few  men  have  there  been  so  small  a  number  of 
exceptions.  When  such  did  occur,  they  grieved  his  gener- 
ous mind.  But  these  cases  were  rare ;  -the  love  which 
grew  up  between  Adam  Clarke  and  those  who  were  worthy 
of  his  affection,  proved  itself  stronger  than  the  storms  of 
life,  or  the  tides  of  death ;  and  those  of  the  number  who 
still  survive  him  cherish  the  memory  of  the  words  and  acts 
by  which  that  love  was  expressed,  among  the  most  sacred 
treasures  of  the  heart. 


THE  HUSBAND.  431 


CHAPTER  Y. 

THE       HUSBAND. 

WE  have  already  narrated  the  circumstances  in  which  this 
holy  relation  was  entered  upon  by  the  subject  of  our  mem- 
oir. The  union  then  consecrated  endured,  with  an  ever- 
effectual  benediction,  through  the  long  years  of  a  diversified 
but  happy  life.  In  the  case  of  Adam  Clarke  and  Mary 
Cooke,  the  marriage  solemnity  was  the  outward  and  visible 
sign  of  an  inward,  spiritual,  and  imperishable  oneness — the 
sacrament  of  an  everlasting  love. 

In  the  partner  of  his  life  Dr.  Clarke  ever  found  that 
Providence  had  given  him  "a  help  meet."  Mrs.  Clarke 
possessed  not  merely  the  graces  of  a  pleasing  exterior,  but 
those  inward  virtues  of  which  St.  Peter  speaks  as  the  true 
adorning  of  the  holy  woman,  and  which  are  in  the  sight  of 
God  of  great  price.  She  had  a  cultivated  mind,  a  sound 
judgment,  and  a  regenerated  heart.  She  was  the  worthy 
companion,  and  often,  to  good  results,  the  wise  counselor 
and  serviceable  helper,  of  her  hard-working  and  grateful 
husband.  A  mother  in  Israel,  and  a  mother  at  home,  she 
brought  up  a  large  family,  and  at  the  same  time  fulfilled 
what  Mr.  Wesley  called,  in  reference  to  her  gracious  con- 
duct, "  the  office  of  a  deaconess,"  in  discharging,  in  every 
circuit,  the  duties  of  a  class-leader  and  a  visitor  of  the  sick 
and  poor. 

These  good  works  were  coeval  with  her  religious  life. 
At  Trowbridge,  where  she  was  brought  up,  she  no  sooner 
became  a  subject  of  converting  grace,  than  it  displayed  its 
effects  in  those  incipient  efforts  at  usefulness  by  which  Miss 
Cooke  was  enabled  to  give  important  aid  to  the  then  feeble 
cause  of  Methodism  in  that  town.  So,  onward  from  year 


432  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

to  year,  through  the  course  of  her  extended  life,  with  ever 
enlarging  knowledge  and  deepening  experience,  she  labored 
with  unobtrusive  but  successful  endeavor  to  lead  persons  of 
her  own  sex  into  and  onward  in  the  way  to  heaven. 

At  home  her  influence  formed  the  character  of  a  remark- 
able family,  the  members  of  which  in  death  and  life  have 
called  her  blessed.  As  to  her  husband,  in  all  the  changing 
scenes  of  their  checkered  history,  her  abiding  and  sanctified 
love,  revealing  itself  in  ceaseless  ministries  for  his  and  their 
comfort  in  mind,  body,  and  estate,  shed  a  ray  of  solace  up- 
on the  darkest  hours,  and  heightened  and  perfected  the  bliss 
of  those  which  were  most  prosperous. 

It  is  only  to  give  a  more  true  idea  of  this  lovely  character 
that  I  take  the  liberty  to  select  a  few  sentences  from  one  or 
two  of  her  letters  to  Mr.  Clarke.  The  following  gives  a 
specimen  of  those  dispositions,  sweet  and  blessed,  which 
gave  such  a  charm  to  his  home.  It  was  written  so  far  back 
as  the  year  1791,  at  the  time  when  they  were  just  leaving 
Dublin  for  Liverpool,  Mr.  Clarke  having  already  left  for 
the  Manchester  Conference.*  I  may  just  observe,  that  her 
beautiful  writing  is  in  the  old  Italian  hand,  so  unlike  the  in- 
significant and  illegible  scrawl  in  which  some  young  ladies 
are  now  taught  to  afflict  the  eyes  of  those  who  have  the  task 
of  reading  their  compositions. 

"  My  spirit  deeply  feels  how  tedious  are  the  moments  of 
separation.  Indeed,  my  best  beloved,  as  thou  art  all  the 
world  to  me,  so  now,  in  losing  thee,  I  wofully  experience 
that  I  have  lost  all  things  except  my  God.  Blessed  be  his 
holy  name,  he  supports  me  still ;  and,  was  it  not  for  his 
peculiar  aid  at  this  time,  my  heart  would  sink  into  hopeless 
melancholy.  My  spirits  are  exceedingly  low,  and  the 
friends'  well  meant  and  kind  officiousness  serves  to  increase 
the  dejection  they  strive  to  remove.  The  Turk,f  poor  com- 
passionate creature,  says,  '  You  cry  so  much,  no  good,  no 
good ;  consume  you.'  Yesterday  I  was  very  weak  ;  ia  the 
evening  could  just  stand  alone.  Through  the  night,  while 
*  See  pnisre  152.  t  Pnge  151. 


THE  HUSBAND.  433 

the  rain  poured  in  torrents  against  the  windows,  gloomy 
were  my  thoughts  of  the  worst  that  could  befall  you.  -All 
the  horrors  of  shipwreck  were  in  a  lively  manner  present  to 
my  imagination.  At  length  I  found  something  like  compo- 
sure from  the  thought  that  perhaps  at  the  coming  of  the 
rain  the  wind  changed  in  your  favor.  ...  I  have  to-day 
gathered  my  little  unpacked  things  into  one  place.  This 
has  helped  to  draw  my  mind  from  the  thought  of  separa- 
tion, and  to  bring  the  idea  of  reunion,  seeing  all  my  stuff 
and  little  matters  drawn  up  in  order  for  .embarkation.  To- 
day I  feel  better,  because  I  hope  by  this  time  you  are  in 
Liverpool.  If  we  follow,  we  have  promises  of  company. 
William  Higley  is  determined  on  the  voyage  ;  and  the  poor 
Turk,  if  spared,  will  be  our  companion.  He  says,  '  Me  no 
sick  ;  me  take  care  John  and  Adam.  Madame  Clarke  sick, 
Phoebe  sick.'  John  is  recovered  charmingly,  and  with  re- 
turning health  he  is  also  getting  his  good  tempers  back 
again.  Adam  is  but  poorly,  thin,  and  sickly.  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  he  will  by  and  by  follow  his  precious  sis- 
ter. 1  see  her  in  him  more  and  more." 

From  another  letter:  "Bristol,  1789.  Mary  Clarke  to 
the  dearly  beloved  of  her  spirit  wisheth  all  peace,  with 
every  present  and  future  blessing  his  heart  can  desire,  or 
the  God  of  love  and  omnipotence  bestow.  I  have  been  led 
this  morning  to  pray  that  my  dear  husband  may  be  assisted 
by  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  power  to  declare  the  counsel 
of  the  Holy  One  unto  the  people ;  and  in  consequence  I  feel- 
a  comfortable  persuasion  that  his  word  shall  not  fail  of 
some  good  effect.  I  have  often  a  presentiment  of  the  power 
of  the  coming  word,  by  having,  as  it  seems,  an  infused  en- 
ergetic cry  after  it  in  my  soul.  I  know  not  when  I  have 
felt  more  of  it  than  last  Thursday  week,  in  the  evening,  when, 
immediately  after  singing  the  verse  preceding  the  sermon, 
every  power  of  my  spirit  instinctively  (if  I  may  say  so)  as- 
cended in  one  ardent  ejaculation,  '  Grant,  O  my  God,  the 
spirit  of  wisdom  unto  the  speaker,  and  let  thy  power  be 
manifested  now  among  the  people  !'  My  soul  then  returned 

2ft 


434  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

in  confidence  that  a  blessing  should  be  given.  Directly  you 
gave  out  for  a  text,  '  The  work  of  righteousness  shall  be 
peace ;  and  the  effect  of  righteousness  quietness  and  assur- 
ance forever.'  If  you  look  back,  you  will  remember  that 
I  believed  not  in  vain,  but  according  to  my  faith  so  was  it 
then  ;  and  so  have  I  generally  found  it.  ... 

"  I  am  myself  nearly  as  well  as  I  can  yet  expect  to  be ;  but 
suffered  much,  very  much,  yesterday,  by  abstaining  some 
hours  too  long  from  food.  But  from  painful  experience  per- 
haps I  shall  learn  a  lesson  of  wisdom.  As  for  little  John, 
he  is  loving  and  saucy,  and  would  give  you  a  hundred  kisses 
if  you  were  here,  though  you  sent  him  never  a  one.  .  .  . 
Frances  sends  her  love ;  and  as  for  me,  believe  that  with  all 
possible  affection  I  am  thine  most  truly." 

When,  in  subsequent  years,  the  doctor  was  carrying  on 
his  extensive  literary  undertakings,  the  few  hours  he  could 
spa  iv  tor  the  pen  were  rendered  more  unbroken  than  other- 
wise they  could  possibly  have  been,  by  the  intervention  of 
Mrs.  Clarke  in  receiving  visitors  and  transacting  minor 
affairs  connected  with  the  business  of  the  Society  and  cir- 
cuit, with  which,  by  practice,  she  had  become  as  conversant 
as  any  superintendent  among  us.  She  kept  all  the  book  ac- 
counts ;  in  the  doctor's  absence,  on  his  numerous  journeys, 
opened  all  the  letters  which  came  for  him,  and,  condensing 
the  contents  of  them  within  the  compass  of  one,  for  the  sav- 
ing of  postage,  transmitted  it  as  a  report  to  him.  Thus, 
under  date,  "  London,  February,  1806,"  she  states  that  one 

letter  was  from  Mr. ,  asking  the  loan  of  a  few  pounds ; 

another,  from  Mr.  Wrigley,  concerning  money  matters  of 
Mr.  S. ;  another,  from  Mr.  Boyd,  containing  family 
affairs;  another,  from  Mr.  Entwisle,  just  arrived,  "which  I 
have  not  yet  had  time  to  read  through,  but  chiefly  relating 
to  chapel-building,  expenditure,  and  ways  and  means,  all 
submitted  to  you,  as  chairman  of  the  district ;"  another, 
from  Mr.  M'Q.,  "  the  largest  size  folio  sheet,  full,  full 
on  all  sides  and  in  every  corner.  It  contains  many  good 
things,  many  learned  things,  many  strange  things,  many  un- 


THE   HUSBAND.  435 

accountable  things,  with  the  promise  of  many  more  things 
yet  to  come.  A  bundle  of  letters  also,  of  three  folio  sheets, 
is  come  from  Mr.  Drew,  addressed  to  Mr.  Woolmer,  and 
sent  by  him  for  Mr.  Benson,  to  publish  in  the  Magazine. 
It  is  a  dialogue  between  himself  and  a  Deist,  on  the  top  of 
a  coach." 

It  will  be  evident  that  Dr.  Clarke's  confidence  in  his  wife 
was  perfect  He  had  no  secrets  to  conceal  from  her,  nor 
wished  to  have.  Their  minds  were  in  sound  and  healthy 
unison.  His  own  personal  life,  and  his  public  life,  with  all 
its  encouragements  and  discouragements,  were  perfectly 
known  to  her ;  and  that,  with  a  return  of  gentle  and 
wise  counsel,  and  holy  comfort,  which  greatly  smoothed 
his  pathway. 

By  her  pen,  too,  she  helped  her  husband  not  a  little.  She 
would  transcribe  a  manuscript  for  the  press ;  and  at  times, 
I  imagine,  she  lent  some  aid  in  original  composition,  getting 
forward  such  works  as  admitted  of  that  kind  of  participation. 
I  speak  not  on  this  point  with  certainty,  except  the  degree 
of  it  which  may  be  gathered  from  an  expression  here  and 
there  of  the  Doctor's.  Thus,  writing  to  her  from  Ireland  : 
"  Cannot  you  and  John  prepare  a  few  sheets  of  the  Concord- 
ance? The  book  is  in  the  back  study,  and  he  knows  the 
volume  of  Calmet  from  whence  he  is  to  correct  the  proper 
names.  See  YOU  to  the  definitions,  if  there  be  any.  A  few 
sheets  will  do." 

While  engaged  on  the  Commentary,  "  it  was  his  frequent 
practice,  at  the  close  of  the  day  at  Millbrook,  to  read  the 
notes  he  had  written  to  Mrs.  Clarke,  and  take  her  opinion 
of  them.  Sometimes,  after  he  had  done  work,  she  would 
read  aloud  to  him  and  the  listening  family  some  amusing 
and  instructive  book."* 

Such  was  she  of  whom  it  is  no  small  honor  to  say,  that 

she  was  worthy  of  being  the  wife  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke.    And 

for  a  more  ample  account  of  this  exemplary  lady  I  refer  the 

reader  to  a  work  published  by  her  daughter  in  1851,  with 

*  Familv  memorandum. 


436  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

the  title  of  "  Mrs.  Adam  Clarke,  her  Character  and  Corres- 
pondence ;"  a  volume  which  deserves  a  place  by  the  side  of 
the  Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Fletcher,  Lady  Maxwell,  Mrs.  Hester 
Ann  Rogers,  Mrs.  Tatham,  Mrs.  Agnes  Bulmer,  and  those 
other  sanctified  females  whose  "Holy  Living"  has  adorned 
so  beautifully  the  religious  communion  to  which  they 
belonged. 

Dr.  Clarke  knew  the  value  of  the  gift  which  heaven  had 
conferred  upon  him  in  this  companion  of  his  days.  With 
each  passing  year  his  love  became  more  tender,  and  the 
honor  in  which  he  held  her,  more  high  and  sacred.  The  an- 
niversary of  their  wedding  was  always  a  time  of  grateful 
joy.  On  one  of  those  days,  being  away,  he  writes  to  her : 
"  This  day  I  have  kept  with  comfort  for  above  forty  years. 
You  are  more  regardless  of  these  kinds  of  observances  than 
I  naturally  am  :  with  me  such  things  have  much  weight ; 
and  now,  being  absent,  I  wish  to  show  you  that  I  carry  the 
remembrance  of  it,  and  my  respect  for  it,  two  hundred  miles 
beyond  my  own  dwelling."  On  another,  he  presents  her 
with  a  tender  poem ;  and  on  another,  with  a  gold  watch, 
"  the  beautiful  dial  of  which,"  he  tells  her,  "  is  an  emblem 
of  thy  face ;  the  delicate  pointers  of  thy  hands ;  and  the 
balance,  of  thy  conduct  in  thy  family."  The  only  difference 
which  the  lapse  of  years  made  in  his  admiration  of  her  was 
to  strengthen  it.  Cowper's  sweet  lines  seem  as  if  they  had 
been  written  to  express  the  sentiments  of  this  true-hearted 
spouse : 

"  Thy  silver  locks,  once  auburn  bright, 
Are  still  more  lovely  in  my  sight 
Than  golden  beams  of  orient  light, 

My  Mary. 

"  To  be  the  same  through  good  and  ill, 
In  wintry  change  to  feel  no  chill, 
With  me  is  to  be  lovely  still, 

My  Mary." 

In  truth,  religion,  with  its  ever  indestructible  and  celestial 
band,  had  made  their  union  everlasting.  They  were  one  in 


THE  HUSBAND.  437 

Christ,  and  were  persuaded  that  neither  death  nor  life,  nor 
things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  could  separate  them. 
They  knew  that,  when  time  with  them  would  be  no  more, 
they  should  live  together  with  the  Lord  ;  and  in  the  years 
of  this  life  they  lived  to  him.  For  the  God  before  whom 
they  walked,  and  who  had  fed  them  all  their  days,  and  re- 
deemed them,  was  their  sun  and  shield,  giving  them  grace, 
and  about  to  give  them  glory,  they  walking  uprightly. 
Their  wish  and  vow,  their  purpose  and  their  prayer,  so  to 
do,  and  so  to  be,  might  have  been  well  told  in  the  words 
which  Lavater,  in  one  of  his  household  hymns,  puts  upon 
the  lips  of  a  Christian  wife  and  husband : 

"  To  bear,  endure,  and  love,  and  give, 
Be  ours  long  as  on  earth  we  live  ; 
In  tranquil  confidence  of  soul, 
To  consecrate  to  Thee  our  whole : 
Hade  wiser  with  the  flight  of  days, 
In  joy  and  sorrow,  Thee  to  praise ; 
Till,  in  blest  death,  our  souls  depart, 
Till  we  behold  Thee  as  Thou  art."  * 

*  "  Dulden,  tragen,  lieben,  geben, 
Einfaltvoll  undfrohlich  ruhn  ; 
Immer  nach  der  Welsheit  streben, 

Was  wir  thun.  nur  Dir  zu  thun  : 
Dir  nur  darken  alle  Freuden, 
Dir  nur  leiden  wenn  wir  leiden, 
Dir  im  Tode  noch  vertraun, 

Wollen  wir,  bis  wir  Dich  schaun  /" 


438  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLAKKE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE      FATHER. 

OF  the  twelve  children  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Clarke,  two  died 
in  infancy,  four  others  in  childhood  ;  and  of  the  six  who  rose 
to  be  men  and  women,  three  daughters  only  survive.  The 
loss  of  the  six,  one  after  another,  bent  the  parents  in  unut- 
terable grief.  "  None,"  says  the  father,  when  the  first  of 
these  afflictions  occurred,  "  none  can  tell  our  woe.  I  feel  I 
have  lost  part  of  my  own  being  in  the  loss  of  my  child. 
Jesus,  thou  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  upon  us.  Thou 
Eternal  Power,  we  bow  before  thee,  we  submit  to  thee." 
In  training  aright  those  who  lived,  Dr.  Clarke  found  the 
solace,  as  well  as  the  solicitude,  of  his  life.  Though  so  ex- 
tensive an  itinerant,  he  was  nevertheless  greatly  in  love  with 
the  domestic  state,  and  never  so  happy  as  when  he  had  his 
children  around  him.  Once  when  Mr.  Ward  of  Durham 
called  on  him  when  in  London,  "  on  being  ushered  into  the 
room,  he  found  him  seated  with  one  child  on  his  knee,  en- 
circled in  an  arm ;  another  child  in  the  cradle,  which  he  was 
rocking  to  repose  with  his  foot;  a  book  in  one  hand,  which 
he  was  attentively  reading,  and  a  potato  in  the  other."  A 
scene  like  this  might  have  been  often  witnessed. 

When  the  labors  of  the  study  were  over  he  used  to  amuse 
himself  with  his  little  ones,  who  quickly  assembled  at  his 
well-known  call  of  "  Come  all  about  me !"  Then  was  heard 
the  joyous  shout,  along  with  the  rush  of  the  youngsters  to 
claim  the  first  kiss,  or  obtain  the  best  seat  upon  his  knee. 
Sometimes  he  would  dispose  of  them  on  his  person ;  one 
round  his  neck,  one  hanging  on  each  shoulder,  one  clasping 
his  waist,  one  seated  on  each  foot ;  and  with  an  infant  in  his 
arms,  he  would,  thus  furnished,  be  the  happiest  of  the  group. 


THE   FATHER.  489 

The  sports  of  the  evening  finished,  each  alternately  kneeled 
at  their  mother's  knee  for  prayer ;  and  when  ready  for  re- 
pose, Mr.  Clarke,  when  not  out  preaching,  "  invariably  car- 
ried them  himself  up  to  bed,  put  or  playfully  threw  them 
in,  and  tucked  them  up  for  the  night.  But,  before  retiring 
himself,  he  always  visited  each  bed,  to  see  if  all  was  right. 
To  his  well-known  voice,  pretty  early  in  the  morning,  they 
would  start  up,  unpin  each  child  its  own  bundle  of  clothes, 
(which  almost  from  infancy  it  had  been  taught  to  fold  up,) 
and  dress  with  all  possible  expedition ;  for,  from  childhood, 
he  would  never  permit  waste  of  time  by  dilatory  habits,  any 
more  than  slovenly  neglect  through  affected  attempts  at  ex- 
pedition." So  writes  one  of  the  family. 

In  their  secular  education  he  not  only  afforded  them  the 
privilege  of  his  own  tuition,  but,  as  his  ministerial  duties 
would  render  all  systematic  operation  impossible,  he  was 
careful  to  secure  them  the  best  professional  instruction  with- 
in his  resources.  He  was  not  content  without  giving  his 
daughters  a  useful  and  elegant,  and  his  sons  a  practical  and 
learned  education.  But,  above  all,  it  was  Mr.  Clarke's  su- 
preme concern  to  give  them  a  Christian  one ;  to,  implant  in 
their  memory  at  the  very  outset  of  life,  when  dogmatic  in- 
struction becomes  a  necessity,  those  absolute  truths  which, 
under  the  influcn'ce  of  the  blessed  Spirit  of  God,  will  develop 
in  the  soul  and  the  conduct  the  virtues  of  holiness  and  relig- 
ion ;  to  illustrate  those  truths  in  cheerful  yet  serious  con- 
versation ;  to  try  to  exemplify  them  in  his  own  spirit,  tem- 
per, and  behavior  be-fore  their  eyes,  letting  them  see  Christ 
in  him,  and  thus  drawing  them  by  the  cords  of  a  inan,  and 
by  the  bands  of  love,  to  his  Saviour  and  theirs.  He  knew 
that  their  renewal  unto  salvation  must  be  the  work  of  God ; 
but  he  knew,  also,  that  he,  as  their  father,  had  duties  to  per- 
form which  might  be  instrumontally  indispensable  toward 
that  blessed  result.  '*  Let  those  parents,"  he  would  say, 
"  who  continue  to  excuse  themselves  by  observing,  '  We 
cannot  give  grace  to  our  children.'  lay  their  hand  on  their 
heart,  and  sav  whothor  thev  ever  knew  an  instance  where 


440  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

God  withheld  his  grace  while  they  were,  in  humble  subservi- 
ency to  him,  fulfilling  their  duty  ?  The  real  state  of  the 
case  is  this :  Parents  cannot  do  God's  work,  and  God  will 
not  do  theirs ;  but  if  they  use  the  means  he  will  never 
withhold  the  blessing." 

In  the  parental  government  of  his  children,  Mr.  Clarke 
blended  an  inflexible  integrity  of  discipline  with  a  cheerful 
open-hearted  love.  He  considered  that  these  should  be 
united  in  a  father's  conduct  toward  his  rising  family.  "  It 
is  not  personal  fondness,"  remarked  he.  "  nor  parental  auth- 
ority, taken  separately,  that  can  produce  beneficial  effect.  A 
father  may  be  as  fond  of  his  offspring  as  Eli,  and  his  chil- 
dren be  sons  of  Belial ;  he  may  be  as  authoritative  as  the 
Grand  Turk,  and  his  children  despise  and  plot  rebellion 
against  him.  But  let  parental  authority  be  tempered  with 
fatherly  affection,  and  let  the  rein  of  discipline  be  steadily 
held  by  this  powerful  but  affectionate  hand,  and  there  shall 
the  pleasure  of  God  prosper.  Many  fine  families  have  been 
spoiled,  and  many  ruined,  by  the  separate  exercise  of  these 
two  principles.  The  first  sort  of  parents  will  be  loved,  with- 
out being  respected ;  the  second  will  be  dreaded,  without 
either  respect  or  esteem." 

He  was  a  frequent  correspondent  with  his  children  when 
away  from  them.  On  his  journey^  he  would  describe  to 
them  remarkable  localities,  with  their  historical  associations, 
rendering  his  letters  both  instructive  and  engaging.  At 
other  times  he  reiterated  with  his  pen  the  solemn  counsels 
which  they  had  often  heard  from  his  lips.  Thus,  to  one  of 
his  daughters  at  school :  "  Youth  is  the  time  in  which  learn- 
ing can  be  obtained.  I  find  that  I  can  now  remember  very 
little  but  what  I  learned  when  I  was  young.  I  have,  it  is 
true,  acquired  many  things  since ;  but  it  has  been  with  dif- 
ficulty, and  I  cannot  retain  them  as  I  did  those  which  I  gained 
in  my  youth." 

Arid  again,  from  another  letter :  "  All,  rny  dear  child,  that 
can  be  done  for  you  by  human  means,  is  being  done ;  but, 
to  make  you  what  you  should  be,  you  must  look  to  God, 


THE  FATHER.  441 

that  he  may  supply  that  teaching  which  is  beyond  the  pow- 
er of  human  influence  and  skill ;  and,  that  you  may  get  it, 
you  must  be  sensible  that  you  need  it,  and  must  pray  to 
God  to  give  you  that  sensibility — that  is,  that  he  may  show 
you  how  stupid,  foolish,  and  ignorant  you  are  in  all  matters 
which  concern  the  salvation  of  your  soul,  and  how  much 
you  stand  in  need  of  that  pardon  and  holiness  which  were 
purchased  by  the  agony  and  bloody  sweat,  the  cross  and 
passion,  the  death  and  burial,  the  glorious  resurrection  and 
ascension  of  our  blessed  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 
Pray  for  these  blessings,  and  do  not  be  contented  without 
them ;  and  then  you  will  be  not  merely  '  worthy  of  your 
father,'  who  is  a  poor  worthless  creature,  but  worthy  of  that 
glorious  name  of  Christian  which  you  bear;  and,  being  a 
partaker  of  the  Divine  nature,  God  will  count  you  worthy 
of  an  inheritance  among  the  saints  in  light." 

So  when,  as  years  passed  on,  the  young  people  entered 
upon  life  for  themselves,  he  still,  by  intercession  with  God, 
and  by  all  kind  offices  within  his  own  power,  endeavored  to 
promote  their  welfare.  On  the  birth  of  a  granddaughter  we 
find  him  writing  as  follows:  "To  Joseph  and  Matilda 
Clarke :  May  the  blessing,  grace,  and  peace  of  the  eternal, 
all-glorious,  infinitely  perfect,  and  ineffably  benevolent  Trin- 
ity, Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  One  incomprehensible 
and  adorable  Deity,  the  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Redeemer 
of  mankind,  rest  on,  ever  support,  and  eternally  save  our 
son  Joseph  B.  B.  Clarke,  his  wife  Matilda,  and  their  firstborn 
child,  by  whatsoever  name*  she  may  be  called.  May  he, 
our  son  Joseph,  in  his  sacred  office  ever  preach  Jesus  the 
Christ,  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  the  conviction 
of  sinners,  the  conversion  of  penitents,  and  the  establishment 
of  bejievers  on  their  most  holy  faith!  May  Matilda  his 
wife  be  ever  blessed  as  a  mother  and  a  Christian,  and  live 
long  distinguished  by  all  the  graces  that  adorn  those  charac- 
ters !  And  may  their  firstborn  child  grow  up  in  stature  and 
favor  with  God  and  man !  And  may  she  and  her  parents 
*  Alice. 


442  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

live  long,  innocently,  piously,  and  usefully ;  and,  after  hav- 
ing served  their  God  in  their  generation,  may  they  triumph 
over  death  in  a  glorious  resurrection  !  May  they  be  united 
to  the  Father  of  Eternity,  through  the  Son  of  his  love,  by 
the  Eternal  Spirit,  to  contemplate  the  Divine  perfections,  to 
see  them  as  they  are,  and  thus  to  enjoy  an  unutterable  hap- 
piness, where  duration  is  eternal,  and  where  time  shall  be 
no  more.  Amen!  Amen!" 

To  and  for  another,  his  daughter  Mary  Ann,  on  her  birth- 
day :  "  Sovereign  of  the  heavens  and  of  the  earth !  behold 
this  my  daughter  on  the  anniversary  of  her  birth.  I  bring 
her  before  thee:  Fill  her  with  thy  light,  life,  and  power. 
As  in  thee  she  lives,  moves,  and  has  her  being,  so  may  she 
ever  live  to  thee !  Strengthen  her,  O  thou  Almighty ;  in- 
struct and  counsel  her,  O  thou  Omniscient !  Be  her  Prop, 
her  Stay,  her  Shield,  and  her  Sword.  Put  all  her  enemies 
under  her  feet ;  deck  her  with  glory  and  honor ;  make  her 
an  example  to  her  family,  a  pattern  of  piety  to  her  friends, 
a  solace  to  the  poor,  and  a  teacher  of  wisdom  to  those  who 
are  ignorant  and  out  of  the  way.  By  her  may  thy  name 
be  glorified,  and  in  her  may  the  most  adorable  Saviour  e\vr 
see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  be  satisfied.  Amen, 
amen.  So  be  it ;  and  let  her  heart  hear  and  feel  THY  Amen, 
which  is,  So  it  shall  be.  Hallelujah." 

Habitually  happy  as  he  was  in  the  bosom  of  his  family, 
there  were  occasions  which  had  an  especial  and  sacred  joy- 
ousness  in  the  domestic  history.  Such  was  that  when 
parents  and  children  alike  received  the  holy  sacrament 
together ;  thus  acting,  as  the  Doctor  expressed  it,  "  like  a 
patriarchal  family  of  old,  et  cum  Deo  inire  fcedus,  making 
a  covenant  with  God,  which  should  put  them  in  an  especial 
manner  under  his  protection." 

Such,  also,  was  that  when,  the  Commentary  being  finished, 
the  sons  and  daughters  "  determined  on  presenting  their 
father  with  a  large  silver  vase,  in  memorial  of  the  comple- 
tion of  a  work  which  they  had  seen  him  so  long,  so  labori- 
ously, and  so  anxiously  prosecuting.  .  .  .  Without  acquaint- 


THE  FATHER.  443 

ing  the  Doctor  with  the  purpose  of  the  invitation,  the  two 
elder  sons  requested  their  parents  and  the  family  to  dine 
with  them  in  St.  John  Square.  After  dinner,  the  vase,  cov- 
ered from  the  sight,  was  introduced,  and  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  table.  Dr.  Clarke's  eldest  son  then  rose,  and  in  the 
name  of  each  of  the  family  uncovered  and  offered  it,  with  an 
appropriate  address,  to  their  revered  parent.  For  a  few 
moments  he  sat  incapable  of  utterance ;  then,  regarding 
them  all,  he  rose,  spread  his  hands  over  this  token  of  his 
children's  love,  and  pronounced  his  blessing  upon  them  indi- 
vidually and  collectively. 

"  His  eldest  son  then  filled  the  vase  with  wine,  which  his 
father  raised  first  to  his  own  lips,  then  to  those  of  his  beloved 
wife,  and  afteward  bore  it  to  each  of  the  family  present ; 
he  then  put  it  down,  and  in  a  strain  of  the  most  heartfelt 
eloquent  tenderness  addressed  his  children  in  the  name  of 
their  revered  mother  and  himself  in  terms  they  will  never 
forget." 

Of  the  three  sons  of  Dr.  Clarke  who  survived  him,  each 
has  now  followed  his  parents  to  the  other  world.  The  eld- 
est, John  Wesley  Clarke,  was  a  gentleman  whose  extensive 
antiquarian  and  heraldic  studies  both  qualified  him  for  the 
situation  he  held  under  government,  and,  combined  with  a 
genial  sociality  of  disposition,  rendered  him  a  most  agreea- 
ble companion.  He  had  a  great  love  for  the  science  of 
botany,  and  delighted  to  spend  whole  weeks  in  the  country 
in  pursuing  it,  during  which  he  would  domesticate  himself 
in  cottage  or  farm-house,  and  live  as  one  of  the  family.  He 
was  a  loving  son  and  brother.  He  died  after  a  short  illness 
in  February,  1840,  and  was  buried  with  his  parents  at  City 
Road  Chapel. 

Theodoret  Samuel  Clarke,  after  an  apprenticeship  to  Mr. 
Woodfall,  the  printer,  carried  on  that  business  for  some 
years  ;  during  which  he  continued  and  finished  the  printing 
of  his  father's  Commentary,  which  had  been  begun  by 
Woodfall.  Theodoret's  education  and  subsequent  studies 
enabled  him  to  superintend  accurately  the  typography  of 


444  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

that  work,  which  abounds  with  quotations  from  the  Biblical, 
classical,  and  Eastern  languages.  Thus  the  Commentary 
was,  as  we  may  say,  the  work  of  the  family.  The  Doctor 
wrote  it,  the  sons  printed,  and  Mr.  Butterworth,  the  brother- 
in-law,  published  it.  Theodoret  left  business,  and  went 
abroad  for  a  time ;  but  after  his  return  lived  generally  near 
his  parents,  spending  his  days  in  various  works  of  useful- 
ness. He  died  at  Brighton  in  1843,  in  the  faith  and  hope 
of  the  Gospel. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Butterworth  Bulmer  Clarke  was,  of  all 
his  sons,  the  one  most  after  his  father's  own  heart.  Some 
time  after  the  completion  of  a  good  school  education,  fol- 
lowed by  the  privilege  of  reading  Greek  with  his  relative, 
Mr.  Boyd,  he  was  entered  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
where  he  graduated  Bachelor  and  Master.  In  July,  1825, 
he  was  ordained  by  the  Archbishop  of  York,  1  believe  as 
curate  to  Archdeacon  Wrangham.  He  afterward  held  two 
curacies  in  London,  was  appointed  chaplain  to  the  Duke  of 
Sussex,  became  incumbent  of  St.  Matthew's,  Liverpool,  and 
then  removed  to  Henbury,  near  Bristol,  where  he  married 
(Miss  Brook)  the  lady  who  so  largely  shared  with  him  some 
of  the  labors  of  his  enlarged  sphere  of  ecclesiastical  duty, 
as  curate  of  Frome,  and  then  rector  of  West  Bagborough, 
near  Taunton,  and  inspector  of  schools  for  the  diocese  of 
Bath  and  Wells  ;  an  office  which  called  forth  powers  with 
which  he  was  admirably  endowed  for  its  faithful  discharge. 
His  printed  reports  show  not  only  great  official  diligence, 
but  a  philosophical  and  Christian  estimate  of  the  principles 
of  education,  giving  them  a  claim  to  permanent  considera- 
tion. The  bishop  showed  his  appreciation  of  Mr.  Clarke  by 
giving  him  a  prebendal  stall  in  the  cathedral  of  Wells.  We 
have  seen  how  he  assisted  his  father  in  bringing  out  the 
second  volume  of  the  "  Sacred  Literature,"  a  task  for  which 
he  was  soundly  qualified  by  his  classical  and  patristic  learn- 
ing. He  published  also  a  volume  of  sermons,  and  a  Biblio- 
graphy of  Oriental  manuscripts  in  his  father's  library.  He 
had,  especially  in  his  last  years,  a  strong  personal  resem- 


THE  FATHER.  445 

blance  to  the  Doctor.  This  amiable  clergyman  died  rather 
suddenly  at  Nice,  in  1854,  in  the  fifty  eighth  year  of  his 
age.  Pie  had  gone  abroad  with  his  family,  for  the  sake  of 
their  health  and  his  own  ;  and,  leaving  them  at  Nice,  had 
come  again  to  England  to  discharge  some  pressing  duties. 
This  done,  he  returned  to  his  family,  and  on  the  way,  turn- 
ing aside  to  visit  the  tomb  of  a  beloved  son  who  had  died 
two  years  before  at  Toulon,  and  been  interred  at  Hieres,  he 
was  himself  seized  with  sudden  death  from  a  malady  of  the 
heart,  and  was  buried  with  his  son,  among  the  myrtles  and 
palm-trees  in  the  cemetry  at  Hieres.* 

*  A  son  of  the  prebendary,  the  Rev.  Adam  Clarke,  has  recently  entered 
holy  orders.  We  should  not  omit  to  mention,  also,  the  Doctor's  much 
esteemed  nephew,  Mr.  John  Edward  Clarke,  the  son  of  his  brother 
Tracy ;  a  man  of  great  erudition,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  able  disserta- 
tion inserted  by  his  uncle  in  his  commentary  on  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
the  Revelation. 


446  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 


CHAPTER  YIL 

THE   SAINT,    IN   LIFE   AND    DEATH. 

THERE  needs  no  concluding  eloge  on  the  religious  charac- 
ter of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  as  his  whole  biography  is  one. 
Let  the  readers  look  back  and  form  their  own  estimate. 
His  personal  and  public  life  was  one  sustained  manifestation 
of  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God, 
and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  the  record  of  it 
traced  on  these  pages,  is  designed  not  to  exalt  idolatrously 
a  fellow-creature,  but  to  offer  an  humble  tribute  to  the 
praise  and  glory  of  that  sovereign  grace  which  made  itself 
apparent  in  his  whole  history.  "The  saints,"  as  Luther 
said,  "are  not  to  be  praised  for  themselves,  but  for  their 
Saviour ;  they  shine  like  dew-drops  on  the  hair  of  the  heav- 
enly Bridegroom."*  The  sanctified  glorify  the  Sanctifier. 
Such  was  the  principle  which  governed  Dr.  Clarke's  inward 
and  outward  life,  that  Christ  in  all  things  might  be 
magnified. 

The  varied  experiences  of  his  inner  and  spiritual  life  are 
not  sufficiently  known  to  warrant  an  attempt,  on  our  part,  to 
give  a  professed  account  of  them.  The  biographies  of 
many  good  men  are  enriched  with  extracts  from  registries 
made  by  themselves  of  the  dealings  of  Divine  grace  with 
their  souls.  But  Dr.  Clarke  left  no  such  documents.  In- 
deed, he  appears  to  have  been  averse  from  things  of  that 
kind.  He  began  to  keep  a  diary,  but  left  it  off  as  early  as 
1785.  When  sometimes  asked  whether  he  would  not  pub- 
lish his  journal,  or  leave  it  to  be  published,  he  used  to  say : 
"  I  do  not  intend  any  such  thing  ;  the  experience  of  all  relig- 
ious people  is  nearly  alike  ;  in  the  main  entirely  so.  When 
*  Tibchredcn. 


THE   SAINT,    IN    LIFE  AND  DEATH.  447 

you  have  read  the  journal  of  one  pious  man  of  common 
sense,  you  have  read  a  thousand.  After  the  first,  it  is  only 
a  change  of  names,  times,  and  places ;  all  the  rest  is  alike." 
The  Rev.  Joseph  Clarke,  knowing  his  father's  mind,  com- 
mitted those  early  journals  to  the  flames.* 

Dr.  Clarke's  religious  experience  was  the  work  of  God's 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  soul ;  begun,  continued,  and  perfected. 
It  was  begun  in  true  regeneration.  That  adorable  Being 
who  alone  "  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean " 
renewed  his  heart  in  righteousness ;  and  to  the  grace  thus 
given  in  his  youthful  prime  Adam  Clarke  Avas  faithful. 
Day  by  day  he  watched  unto  prayer,  and  walked  humbly 
with  God.  Working  out  his  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling,  while  God  wrought  within  him  to  will  and  to  do 
of  his  own  good  pleasure,  he  became  established  in  grace, 
and  endured  to  the  end. 

He  sought  and  found — what  every  man  is  obligated  to 
seek,  and  every  Christian  believer  privileged  to  find — the 
clear  knowledge  of  pardon,  and  of  adoption  to  be  a  child  of 
God ;  and  the  witness  of  his  acceptance  in  the  Beloved  was 
never  removed  from  his  soul.  In  his  autobiography  he 
gives  an  unequivocal  statement  to  that  effect.  It  appears 

*  In  recording  Dr.  Clarke's  sentiments  on  this  point  here  raised,  we 
lire  not  to  be  understood  as  adopting  them  in  full.  An  eminent  living 
divine,  the  learned  Dr.  Fred.  Augustus  Tholuck,  of  Halle,  inclines  to  a 
very  different  opinion.  "  O  that  we  were  richer,  in  our  German  lan- 
guage," he  writes,  "  in  biographical  works  which  are  adapted  to  illus- 
trate and  promote  a  truly  elevated  and  practical  Christianity,  by  laying 
open  the  sanctuary  of  the  inner  life  !  It  may  be  said  that  more  awaken- 
ings have  proceeded  from  the  written  lives  of  those  eminent  for  piety, 
than  from  books  of  devotion  and  printed  sermons.  We  are  able,  at  least, 
in  the  circle  of  our  own  knowledge,  to  address  a  great  number  of  Chris- 
tians—  and  among  them  names  of  the  first  rank  in  the  religious  world — 
who  are  indebted  essentially  to  works  of  biography  for  the  confirmation 
and  stability  of  their  spiritual  life.  The  writer  can  assert  this  in  regard  to 
himself.  He  can  make  such  an  acknowledgment  respecting  a  book  to 
which  he  knows  that  not  a  few  in  Europe,  America,  and  Asia,  will  bear 
a  similar  testimony.  The  biography  of  the  missionary  Martyn  opened  in 
my  own  life  a  new  era  of  religious  progress.1'1  (Preface  to  vol.  i,  of  a 
scries  of  Biographies,  in  German,  for  Sabbath  reading.) 


448  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

also  in  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  Wesley,  when  Mr.  Clarke 
was  in  the  Norwich  Circuit  in  1784,  that,  while  at  Trow- 
bridge,  he  had  received  powerful  convictions  of  a  need  of 
the  entire  sanctification  of  his  heart ;  that  he  had  become 
acquainted  with  a  good  man,  a  local  preacher,  "  who,"  says 
he,  "  was  a  partaker  of  this  precious  privilege ;  and  from 
him  I  received  some  encouragement  and  direction  to  set  out 
in  quest  of  it,  endeavoring,  with  all  my  strength,  to  believe 
in  the  ability  and  willingness  of  my  God  to  accomplish  the 
great  work.  Soon  after  this,  while  earnestly  wrestling  with 
the  Lord  in  prayer,  and  endeavoring,  self-desperately,  to 
believe,  I  found  a  change  wrought  in  my  soul,  which  I  en- 
deavored through  grace  to  maintain  amid  grievous  tempta- 
tions. My  indulgent  Saviour  continued  to  support  me,  and 
enabled  be  with  all  my  power  to  preach  the  glad  tidings  to 
others."  These  sanctifying  graces  were  evidently  strength- 
ened during  the  latter  part  of  his  residence  in  the  Norman 
Isles,  on  the  bed  of  sickness  in  Dublin,  and  in  the  days  of 
labor  at  Manchester,  Liverpool,  Bristol,  and  London,  dif- 
fusing their  effectual  influence  on  all  his  life. 

On  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  our  adoption  I  heard 
him  preach  a  sermon  only  a  few  months  before  he  ceased 
to  be  among  us ;  in  which,  after  reminding  us  that  there 
can  be  no  true  happiness  for  man  but  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  favor  of  God,  he  went  on  to  prove  that  such  felicity 
must  be  impossible  without  a  testimony  from  God  to  the 
conscience  that  he  adopts  the  pardoned  sinner  to  be  his 
child ;  and  that  this  evidence  is  not  to  be  inferred  merely 
from  texts  of  Scripture,  however  rightly  applied,  but  ascer- 
tained from  an  interior  oracle  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  creating 
peace  in  believing  and  inspiring  che  dispositions  by  which 
we  say  in  life  and  word,  "  Abba,  Father  !"  "  This,"  said 
he,  "is  what  I  wish  you  not  to  rest  without.  Do  not  face 
death  without  it ;  do  not !  How  awful  to  go  to  appear  be- 
fore the  living  God,  if  you  have  not  the  testimony  in  your 
own  souls  that  you  are  born  of  him !  John  Bunyan  well 
describes  a  poor,  wretched,  self-deceived  pilgrim,  who  had 


THE  SAINT,   IN    LIFE  AND   DEATH.  449 

trusted  to  a  vague  and  general  belief,  without  actual  con- 
version, coming  to  the  gate  of  the  celestial  city,  but  refused 
an  entrance,  because  '  he  had  no  certificate  to  be  taken  in.' 
*  He  fumbled,'  says  he  '  in  his  bosom  for  it,  but  he  found 
none.  Then  1  saw  the  shining  ones  commanded  to  bind 
him  head  and  heels,  and  throw  him  into  the  hole  at  the  side 
of  the  hill.'  Beware,  lest  thou  art  as  he." 

This  calm  assurance  was  maintained  in  Dr.  Clarke  by  the 
habit  and  life  of  faith.  "  What  have  I  to  boast  or  trust  in  ?" 
writes  he  :  "I  exult  in  nothing  but  the  eternal,  impartial, 
and  indescribable  kindness  of  the  ever  blessed  God ;  and 
I  trust  in  nothing  but  in  the  infinite  merit  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ,  a  ruined  world's  Saviour,  and  the  Almighty's 
fellow.  Then  what  have  I  to  dread  ?  Nothing.  What 
have  I  to  expect]  All  possible  good;  as  much  as  Christ 
has  purchased,  as  much  as  heaven  can  dispense.  '  The 
Lord  is  my  Shepherd,  and  I  shall  not  want.' " 

He  was  often  exceedingly  blessed  in  his  own  soul,  in  the  pul- 
pit, while  made  a  blessing  to  hundreds.  Thus  on  one  occasion, 
as  already  mentioned,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  would  not  have 
missed  coming  to  this  place  to-day  for  five  hundred  pounds. 
I  got  my  own  soul  blessed,  and  God  has  blessed  the  people." 

This  good  teacher  was  himself  teachable.  We  have  re- 
marked with  what  docility  he  would  sit  at  the  feet  of  the 
humblest  Christian  who  could  teach  him  a  lesson  in  the  things 
of  God.  u  I  meet  regularly  once  a  week.  I  find  it  a  great 
privilege  to  forget  that  I  am  a  preacher,  and  come  with  sim- 
ple heart  to  receive  instruction  from  my  leader." 

And  in  making  his  own  election  sure  he  felt  the  neces- 
sity of  constant  self-government.  Self-denial  was  his  habit- 
ual rule ;  and  sometimes,  in  things  perfectly  allowable,  he 
was  induced  to  forego  a  lawful  gratification  for  the  good  of 
others.  In  one  city  where  he  was  stationed,  he  found  tho 
use  of  wine  carried  to  too  great  an  extent  in  some  of  the 
circles  he  visited,  and  made  a  resolution  to  abstain,  for  tho 
sake  of  giving  a  practical  testimony  against  it;  taking  but 
two  glasses  of  wine  during  the  whole  year,  though  in  a 


450  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

wasted  state  of  health,  which  would  have  rendered  the 
moderate  use  of  wine  of  great  service  to  him. 

The  fear  of  God  developed  in  his  disposition  an  habitual 
reverence  for  things  sacred.  Thus,  in  passing  an  abbey  or 
a  ruined  chapel,  he  has  been  observed  to  take  off  his  hat, 
as  a  token  of  veneration.  And  this  feeling  was  strongly 
unfolded  in  regard  to  the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  would  often 
study  them  on  his  knees.  The  very  sight  of  a  Bible  seemed 
to  do  him  good.  Once  when  a  servant,  wanting  something 
to  set  against  the  door  of  the  parlor  to  keep  it  open,  seized 
the  Bible  and  placed  it  on  the  ground,  "  Poor  Margaret," 
quoth-  the  Doctor,  "  has  no  religion,  or  she  would  have  paid 
more  respect  to  the  book  of  God  than  to  put  it  to  that  use." 
He  then  took  occasion  to  intimate  that  he  could  not  endure 
the  material  of  which  the  sacred  book  is  composed  to  be 
desecrated  in  any  way,  and  that  even  the  page  of  a  printed 
book  which  had  upon  it  the  Divine  name  was  sacred  in  his  eyes. 

He  had  an  overflowing  sense  of  the  goodness  of  God. 
Gratitude  to  the  parent  of  good  had  become  a  glowing  af- 
fection of  his  soul,  which,  like  the  altar's  trembling  flame, 
was  never  suffered  to  expire.  "  I  have  enjoyed  the  spring  of 
life;  I  have  endured  the  toils  of  its  summer;  I  have  culled 
the  fruits  of  its  autumn ;  I  am  now  passing  through  the 
rigors  of  its  winter;  and  I  am  neither  forsaken  of  God,  nor 
abandoned  by  man.  I  see.  at  no  great  distance  the  dawn  of 
a  new  day  ;  the  first  of  a  spring  that  shall  be  eternal.  It  is 
advancing  to  meet  me'!  I  run  to  embrace  it.  Welcome, 
eternal  spring !  Hallelujah !"  This  was  written  about  two 
years  before  his  death. 

These  gracious  dispositions  tuned  his  mind  to  benevolence 
toward  all  men,  and  especially  those  who  were  of  the  house- 
hold of  faith.  Dr.  Clarke  was  a  genuine  catholic.  He 
could  say,  with  Jerome:  "I  am  a  Christian  and  the  son  of 
a  Christian,  bearing  on  my  forehead  the  token  of  the 
cross  ;"*  and  he  reverenced  and  loved  sincere  piety  where- 

"  (Jhrixtin-nu*  *nm,  et  Christianifilius,  portans  infronte  men  vexiHum 
w." — AJ  Panlinum. 


THE   SAINT  IN    LIFE  AND  DEATH.  451 

ever  he  found  it,  and  under  whatever  conventional  title. 
Names  with  him  were  next  to  nothing.  Still,  there  was  one 
branch  of  the  Church  with  which  he  was  more  intimately 
united,  and  through  which  he  held  communion  with  the  oth- 
ers. He  was  a  Methodist;  and  if  he  had  been  disposed  to 
glory  in  any  name,  it  would  have  been  hi  that  one.  The 
Methodist  people  were  his  people,  and  their  God  his  God. 
Among  them  he  had  been  called,  and  among  them  he  lived, 
and  labored,  and  died.  One  month  before  his  death  he  wrote 
the  following  testimonial.  It  has  been  printed  before,  but  I 
insert  it  here  without  scruple,  as  it  is  evident,  from  the 
words  of  the  preamble,  he  wished  it  to  be  permanent. 

"  IN  PERPETUAM  EEI  MEMOEIAM  : 

"  I  have  lived  more  than  threescore  years  and  ten  ;  I  have 
traveled  a  good  deal  by  sea  and  land  ;  I  have  conversed 
with  and  seen  many  people,  in  and  from  many  different 
countries  ;  I  have  studied  all  the  principal  religious  systems 
in  the  world ;  I  have  read  much,  thought  much,  and  reasoned 
much.  And  the  result  is,  I  am  persuaded  of  the  simple 
unadulterated  truth  of  no  book  but  the  BIBLE  ;  and  of  the 
excellence  of  no  system  of  religion  but  that  contained  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  especially  CHRISTIANITY,  which  is 
referred  to  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  fully  revealed  in  the 
New.  And  while  I  think  well  of,  and  wish  well  to,  all  relig- 
ious sects  and  parties,  and  especially  to  all  who  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  yet,  from  a  long  and  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  I  am  led  most  conscientiously  to 
conclude  that  Christianity  itself  as  existing  among  those  called 
Wesleyan  Methodists  is  the  purest,  the  safest,  and  that  which 
is  most  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  benefit  of  men  ;  and  that 
both  as  to  the  creed  there  professed,  the  form  of  discipline 
there  established,  and  the  consequent  moral  practice  there  vin- 
dicated. And  I  believe  that  among  them  is  to  be  found  the 
best  form  and  body  of  divinity  that  has  ever  existed  in  the 
Church  of  Christ  from  the  promulgation  of  Christianity  to 
the  present  day.  To  him  who  would  ask,  '  Dr.  Clarke,  are 


452  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLAKKE. 

you  not  a  bigot  1  without  hesitation  I  would  answer,  '  No, 
I  am  not ;  for,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  am  a  Methodist.' 
Amen.  ADAM  CLARKE." 

On  another  occasion  :  "  For  nearly  fifty  years  I  have  lived 
only  for  the  support  and  credit  of  Methodism  :  myself  and 
my  interests,  the  Searcher  of  hearts  knows,  were  never  ob- 
jects of  my  attention.  I  came  into  the  Connection  with  an 
upright  heart  and  one  dominant  principle ;  and,  by  the  help 
of  God,  I  will  retain  it  to  the  end." 

He  did  so.  Such  were  his  feelings  to  the  last.  Speak- 
ing to  some  of  the  ministers  not  long  before  his  departure, 
he  said  :  "  My  heart  is  with  you  ;  and  when  my  spirit  has 
passed  away,  if  God  permit,  it  shall  return  and  be  a  stirring 
spirit  among  you  again  !" 

The  last  characteristic  of  Adam  Clarke's  practical  reli- 
gion we  can  here  commemorate  is  its  perseverance.  It  was 
"  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing  "  that  he  sought  for 
glory  and  immortality.  He  occupied  till  the  Master  came, 
and  died  wearing  the  harness.  "The  broad  shadows  and 
the  setting  sun  "  might  have  warranted  his  retirement  from 
the  field  of  toil ;  but  he  wrought  on,  the  more  solemnly  in 
earnest  for  that  the  work  was  still  pressing  and  the  moments 
were  few.  Here  is  a  memorandum  noted  down  (April  9th) 
in  the  last  year  of  his  life:  "  The  Missionary  Secretaries  are 
in  want  of  help  for  their  coming  anniversary,  and  have  come 
in  the  most  earnest  and  affectionate  manner  begging  me  to 
help  them.  I  have  at  once  submitted,  though  it  is  likely  to 
throw  work  upon  me  which  I  shall  scarcely  be  able  to  bear. 
I  had  been  previously  engaged  to  Birmingham  and  Sheffield. 
I  must  be  in  Birmingham  on  the  22d  and  23d,  return  to 
London  for  Queen-street  on  the  27th,  and  Southwark  on  the 
29th,  then  set  off  for  Sheffield,  where  I  must  be  May  5th 
and  6th,  and  get,  if  I  can,  to  Belfast  or  Donaghadee  on  the 
12th.  I  am  in  an  indifferent  state  of  health ;  and  there  is 
too  much  reason  to  believe  that  all  this  traveling  and 
preaching,  corning  so  close  together,  will  overset  me." 


THE   SAINT,    IN  LIFE   AND   DEATH.  453 

In  some  of  these  services  he  came  out  in  almost  unparal- 
leled grandeur.  "  Who,"  said  the  poet  Montgomery,  refer- 
ring to  those  at  Sheffield,  "  who  among  us  does  not  remem- 
ber, nay,  which  of  us  can  forget,  his  two  discourses — the 
simple  energy  with  which  they  were  poured  forth,  the  unc- 
tion of  the  Holy  One  which  accompanied  them,  and  the  de- 
vout feeling  so  interfused  as  to  overpower  the  sense  of  ad- 
miration which  the  learning,  the  love,  the  transcendent  ability 
displayed  in  the  composition  were  calculated  to  excite  ?" 

On  the  Doctor's  arrival  home  from  Ireland  his  family 
were  shocked  by  the  alteration  in  his  appearance.  He  con- 
lessed  that  his  strength  was  prostrated,  but  seemed  most 
concerned  lest  he  should  be  disabled  from  further  work. 
One  of  his  daughters  having  come  over  to  Hay  don  Hall  to 
see  her  father  upon  his  return,  he  said,  "  See,  Mary,  how  the 
strong  man  has  bowed  himself;  for  strong  he  was.  But  it 
is  God  who  has  brought  down,  and  he  can  raise  up.  He 
still  owns  the  word  I  preach ;  he  still  continues  my  influ- 
ence among  the  people ;  and  hence  it  is  plain  he  has  yet 
other  work  for  me  to  do." 

In  July,  at  the  Liverpool  Conference,  his  name  was  in- 
serted as  supernumerary  under  the  heading  of  the  Windsor 
Circuit,  being  that  in  which  Haydon  Hall  is  situated ;  *  but 
along  with  this  notification  was  added  the  following  N.B. : 
"  Though  Dr.  Clarke  is  set  down  supernumerary  for  Wind- 
sor, he  is  not  bound  to  that  circuit,  but  is  most  respectfully 
and  affectionately  requested  to  visit  all  parts  of  our  Connec- 
tion, and  labor  according  to  his  strength  and  convenience." 

With  this  "  roving  commision,"  as  he  called  it,  he  pre- 
pared himself  to  concur ;  engagements  as  usual  beginning 
to  crowd  upon  him  with  the  new  Methodistic  year.  But  He 
whom  he  had  so  faithfully  served,  and  longed  still  to  serve, 
was  about  to  say,  "  It  is  enough." 

The   year  1832  was  one  of  the  seasons  of  the  Asiatic 

*  This  was  not  the  first  occasion  when  the  Doctor  was  minuted  u« 
"  supernumerary."  I  find  the  term  in  connection  with  his  imrue  when 
engaged  in  the  Record  Commission  in  London. 


454  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

cholera  in  England.  That  inscrutable  pestilence  had  swept 
away  a  multitude  of  people ;  and  among  the  places  which 
Dr.  Clarke  had  been  called  to  visit  while  the  malady  was  at 
its  height,  Liverpool  was  one.  The  subsequent  event  proved 
that  he  returned  to  his  home  smitten  with  its  influence. 
Yet,  under  these  circumstances,  he  went  forth  to  acquit  him- 
self of  what  he  considered  to  be  the  obligation  of  duty, 
though  with  the  seal  of  death  upon  his  brow. 

His  first  effort  was  at  Frome,  where  he  visited  his  worthy 
son,  then  curate  of  that  parish ;  who  had  solicited  the  Doc- 
tor's presence  at  a  meeting  to  promote  an  excellent  institu- 
tution  which  he  had  organized  for  the  bodily  and  spiritual 
relief  of  the  poor.  Writing  to  Mrs.  Clarke  on  his  arrival  at 
Frome,  he  says  :  "  The  constant  traveling  and  labor,  confine- 
ment in  the  Conference,  etc.,  greatly  fatigued  me;  and 
almost  every  day  I  am  expecting  to  be  knocked  up.  Never 
was  my  mind  more  vigorous,  and  never  my  body  so  near 
sinking."  The  plans  of  his  son  "  for  the  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  the  poor"  had  excited  great  attention  in  Frome  ; 
and  at  the  meetings  some  persons  of  great  eminence  in  the 
neighborhood  took  a  part  on  the  platform,  among  whom 
were  the.  bishop  of  the  diocese,  the  Earl  of  Cork,  and  the 
Marquis  of  Bath.  The  speech  delivered  by  the  Doctor  made 
a  great  impression.  The  founder  of  the  Strangers'  Friend 
Society,  and  the  preacher  of  mercy  for  fifty  years,  was  at 
home  on  the  theme  of  the  day  ;  and  all  felt  that  a  man  of  no 
ordinary  presence  was  among  them.  One  expression  only 
wo  can  note,  as  showing  the  instinct  of  eternity  which  was 
growing  stronger  in  him  daily.  Referring  to  the  pleasing 
circumstance  that  the  present  charity  combined  all  ranks  of 
society  in  the  neighborhood  as  its  supporters,  and  to  the 
presence  of  the  bishop,  the  peers,  the  members  of  Parlia- 
ment, clergy,  and  gentry,  as  "  a  grateful  sight,"  he  added : 
"Thus  also  it  is  even  with  the  economy  of  heaven;  since 
concerning  it  we  hear  of  thrones,  and  dominions,  and  princi- 
palities, and  powers ;  for  orderly  government  seems  to  be 
well  pleasing  to  God.  What  other  degrees  may  be  required 


THE   SAINT,    IN   LIFE  AND  DEATH.  455 

to  constitute  the  harmony  of  the  celestial  hierarchy,  I  know 
not ;  but — I  shall  soon  be  there,  and  then  I  shall  know  the 
whole !" 

From  Frome,  after  a  little  sojourn  at  Weston-super-Mare, 
he  went  to  Bristol,  and  preached  on  the  19th  at  Westbury, 
near  that  city.  From  Bath  and  Pinner,  we  find  him  corres- 
ponding by  letter  with  two  ladies,  Mrs.  Tomkins  and  Miss 
Birch,  on  some  calamities  which  had  befallen  the  Zetlanders, 
for  whom  they  had  shown  much  generosity,  and  whom  he 
again  commends  to  their  compassion.  He  left  Bath  for 
London  on  the  20th  of  August ;  and  the  next  day,  after  visit- 
ing  and  giving  his  blessing  to  his  daughters  in  town,  he 
reached  his  home  at  seven  in  the  evening.  And  here  it  will 
be  better  to  recite  what  followed,  not  in  my  own,  but  in  the 
words  of  his  daughter ;  for  they  have  a  sacredness  which 
should  not  be  intermeddled  with.  She  tells  us,  that  after 
her  father's  return  home,  "  in  the  morning  and  evening  family 
worship,  it  was  remarked  that  he  invariably  prayed  in  refer- 
ence to  the  cholera,  by  name,  '  that  each  and  all  might  be 
saved  from  its  influence,  or  be  prepared  for  sudden  death;' 
and,  as  regarded  the  nation  at  large,  '  that  it  would  please 
Almighty  God  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  people  to  himself, 
and  cut  short  his  judgment  in  mercy.' 

"  On  Saturday,  August  25th,  he  summoned  the  family  as 
usual,  and  it  was  observed  he  commenced  his  prayer  with 
these  words :  '  We  thank  thee,  O  Heavenly  Father,  that  we 
have  a  blessed  hope  through  Christ  of  entering  into  thy 
glory.'  On  rising  from  his  knees,  he  remarked  to  Mrs. 
Clarke,  '  I  think,  my  dear,  it  will  not  be  my  duty  to  kneel 
down  much  longer,  as  it  is  with  pain  and  difficulty  I  can  rise 
up  from  my  knees.' 

"  Being  engaged  to  preach  at  Bayswater  on  the  Sabbath 
morning,  a  friend  had  promised  to  come  for  him  in  his 
chaise,  which  he  accordingly  did.  Previously  to  their  set- 
ting off  he  called  a  servant,  and  gave  her  a  piece  of  silver, 
saying,  'Take  that  to  poor  Mrs.  Fox,  with  my  love  and 
blessing.  Perhaps  it  is  the  last  I  shall  ever  give  her.'  He 


456  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

took  a  little  refreshment,  and,  ascending  the  chaise,  drove 
out  of  the  gate — forever. 

"  On  the  way  to  Bayswater  his  conversation  was  cheerful ; 
but  on  arriving  he  appeared  fatigued ;  and,  as  the  evening 
advanced,  he  was  unusually  languid.  Several  friends  called 
upon  him  ;  and  on  the  Rev.  Thomas  Stanley  requesting  him 
to  fix  a  time  for  preaching  a  charity  sermon,  Dr.  Clarke  re- 
plied, '  I  am  not  well :  I  cannot  fix  a  time;  I  must  first  see 
what  God  is  about  to  do  with  me.' 

"  At  supper  he  was  languid  and  silent ;  and,  in  the  hope 
of  gaining  upon  his  appetite,  his  kind  and  considerate  friend 
Mrs.  Hobbs  had  got  for  him  some  fish,  to  which  he  was  al- 
ways partial ;  but  he  could  not  eat  of  it,  and  took  a  little 
boiled  rice  instead. 

"  Ever  since  Dr.  Clarke's  return  from  Bristol  he  had  been 
affected  with  some  degree  of  diarrhoea ;  but  now,  contrary 
to  custom,  it  was  not  attended  with  the  slightest  pain.  On 
being  pressed  to  take  something  for  it,  he  took  ginger  and 
rhubarb,  but  refused  every  other  recommendation.  .  .  . 

"The  diarrhoea  increased  all  night.  On  the  Sabbath 
morning  he  was  heard  to  be  up  very  early,  but  this  was  no 
unusual  thing.  At  six  o'clock,  however,  he  requested  the 
servant  to  call  Mr.  Hobbs,  who  obeyed  the  summons  with 
all  speed,  and  on  coming  down  saw  Dr.  Clarke  standing  with 
his  great-coat  on,  his  traveling  bag  in  his  hand,  his  hat  lying 
on  the  table,  just  ready  for- a  journey.  Addressing  Mr. 
Hobbs,  he  said,  '  My  dear  fellow,  you  must  get  me  home 
directly  ;  without  a  miracle  I  could  not  preach.  Get  me 
home — I  want  to  be  home.'  Mr.  Hobbs,  seeing  him  look 
exceedingly  ill,  replied,  '  Doctor,  you  are  too  ill  to  go  home ; 
you  had  bettor  stay  hero.  At  any  rate,  the  gig  is  not  fit  for 
you :  I  will  go  and  inquire  for  a  post-chaise,  if  you  are  de- 
termined to  return.' 

"  Shortly  after  Mrs.  Hobbs  came  down,  with  Miss  Hobbs 
and  Miss  Everingham,  the  servant  having  informed  these 
ladies  of  Dr.  Clarke's  indisposition. 

"  By  this  time  he  had  sunk  into  a  chair  ;  and,  finding  him 


THE  SAINT,   IN  LIFE  AND  DEATH.  457 

very  cold,  they  had  got  a  fire,  and  the  three  ladies  were  rub- 
bing his  forehead  and  hands,  while  Mr.  Hobbs  sent  with  the 
gig  for  a  medical  gentleman — Mr.  Greenly,  a  friend  of  the 
family,  who  chanced  to  have  come  to  town  on  the  preceding 
evening  from  Chatham,  where  he  had  professionally  attended 
the  cholera  hospital.  In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Hobbs  had 
called  in  a  medical  man  in  the  neighborhood,  and  sent  off  to 
inform  his  sons  of  their  father's  illness.  Mr.  Theodoret  ar- 
rived shortly,  and  Mr.  John  not  long  after,  accompanied  by 
the  doctor's  nephew,  Mr.  Thrasycles  Clarke,  who  had  been 
for  many  years  a  surgeon  in  the  Royal  Navy,  and  had  fre- 
quently seen  cases  of  cholera  in  the  East. 

"  As  soon  as  the  medical  gentlemen  saw  Dr.  Clarke,  they 
pronounced  the  disease  to  be  cholera.  The  family  wished 
him  to  be  taken  up  stairs ;  but  he  was  by  this  time  so  weak, 
that  it  was  found  he  could  not  get  up.  A  small  bed  being 
in  the  adjoining  room,  he  was  conveyed  there,  and  laid  down 
upon  it.  Mr.  Hobbs  then  said,  '  My  dear  doctor,  you  must 
put  your  soul  into  the  hands  of  your  God,  and  your  trust  in 
the  merits  of  your  Saviour.'  To  which  Dr.  Clarke  could 
only  faintly  reply,  '  I  do — I  DO.' 

"  Dr.  Wilson  Philip  arrived  about  nine  o'clock.  All  the 
means  that  skill,  experience,  and  attention  could  devise  and 
employ  were  used  to  arrest  the  disease. 

"  Service  time  having  arrived,  the  chapel,  as  usual  on  such 
occasions,  was  filled.  An  aged  minister,  after  reading 
prayers,  ascended  the  pulpit,  and  announced  that  Dr.  Clarke 
was  laboring  under  an  attack  of  cholera.  The  impression 
may  be  better  imagined  than  described. 

"  A  friend  of  Dr.  Clarke's,  Mr.  Thurston,  on  hearing  this, 
immediately  left  the  chapel,  and  hastened  to  the  house  of 
Mr.  Hobbs,  to  learn  if  indeed  it  could  be  true,  and  if,  in  the 
dismay  and  hurry  of  the  family,  Mrs.  Clarke  had  been  sent 
for.  He  immediately  drove  off  to  Haydon  Hall  to  bring 
Mrs.  Clarke,  who  arrived  a  little  before  four  in  the  after- 
noon. On  her  entering  the  room,  Dr.  Clarke  feebly  ex- 
tended his  hand  toward  her.  One  of  the  doctor's  daughters, 


458  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

Mrs.  Hook,  on  hearing  that  her  father  was  indisposed, 
though  she  knew  not  the  extent  of  the  calamity,  had  set  off 
for  Bayswater ;  and  her  father  opened  his  eyes  feebly,  and 
strove  to  clasp  his  fingers  upon  her  hand.  But  he  had  not 
attempted  to  speak  but  twice ;  once  in  the  morning,  when  he 
asked  his  son  Theodoret,  '  Am  I  blue  V  and  again  at  noon, 
on  seeing  him  move  from  his  bedside,  he  asked,  with  appar- 
ent anxiety,  '  Are  you  going  V 

"  Dr.  W.  Philip  again  visited  him  in  the  afternoon ;  but 
Mr.  Thrasycles  Clarke  and  Mr.  Greenly  never  left  his  room, 
nor  relaxed  in  their  efforts  to  save  a  life  they  saw  to  be  fast 
hastening  away.  The  female  members  in  this  kind  family 
forgot  all  personal  risk  in  attending  upon  the  affliction  of 
one  who  had  to  them  been  so  often  the  minister  of  peace. 
His  two  sons  chafed  his  cold  hands  and  feet  frequently  in 
the  day,  and  often  stepped  behind  his  head  to  lift  him  higher 
on  the  pillow.  Hope  did  not  abandon  them;  nor  could 
Mrs.  Clarke  be  brought  to  believe  that  death  had  made  a 
sure  lodgment,  and  that  life  was  fast  sinking  under  his 
power. 

"  From  the  first,  Dr.  Clarke  appeared  to  suffer  but  little 
pain.  The  sickness  did  not  last  long,  and  a  slight  degree  of 
spasm  which  succeeded  it  had  all  passed  away  before  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  But  there  was  a  total  prostration 
of  strength,  and  difficulty  of  breathing,  which,  as  night  ad- 
vanced, increased  so  much,  and  proved  so  distressing  to 
Mrs.  Clarke,  that  she  was  obliged  to  be  removed  into  the 
adjoining  room. 

"  A  few  minutes  after  eleven  Mr.  Hobbs  came  into  the 
room  where  she  was  sitting,  and  in  deep  distress  said,  '  I 
am  sure,  Mrs.  Clarke,  the  doctor  is  dying.'  She  passed 
with  him  once  more  into  the  sick  chamber,  and  said, 
'Surely,  Mr.  Hobbs,  you  are  mistaken;  Dr.  Clarke 
breathes  easier  than  he  did  just  now ;'  to  which  Mr.  Hobbs 
in  strong  emotion  replied,  '  Yes ;  but  shorter.' 

"  At  this  moment  Dr.  Clarke  heaved  a  short  sob,  and  his 
spirit  went  forth  from  earth  to  heaven." 


THE   SAINT,   IN  LIFE   AND  DEATH.  459 

Deep  and  solemn  was  the  feeling  which  the  announcement 
of  the  death  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  produced  in  London,  and 
throughout  the  land.  The  Methodist  communion  felt  that 
they  had  suffered  few  such  losses  since  the  day  when  their 
founder  himself  was  removed  to  his  eternal  rest.  And  not 
only  the  body  to  which  he  more  intimately  belonged,  but 
good  men  of  every  name  deplored  his  departure  with  a  sin- 
cere and  religious  lamentation,  as  if  bereaved  of  a  personal 
counselor,  companion,  and  friend.  The  tribute  which  was 
written  by  Fresenius  when  the  illustrious  John  Albert  Ben- 
gel  died,  might  with  the  greatest  propriety  have  been  em- 
ployed to  express  the  sentiments  of  multitudes  in  every 
Church  when  the  grave  received  this  venerable  divine  to  its 
dark  repose : 

"  A  pillar  falls ;  a  light  expires  ;  a  star,  which  shone  so 
brightly  in  the  visible  heaven  of  the  Church,  stops  its  course, 
withdraws,  and  mingles  with  the  supernal  glory  of  the  spirits 
made  perfect. 

"  An  angel  of  peace,  who  was  as  pious  as  he  was  labor- 
ious, as  childlike  as  he  was  learned,  as  rich  in  spirit  as  he 
was  acute  in  mind,  as  humble  as  he  was  great,  as  modest 
as  he  was  circumspect  in  his  walk  and  business  of  life. 

"  A  friend  of  God  expires,  whom  the  Eternal  Wisdom 
led  into  her  chambers ;  to  whom  were  opened  the  outgoings 
of  that  light  which  enlightens  human  minds,  the  powers  of 
that  word  which  quickens  souls,  the  treasures  of  that  grace 
which  allures,  leads,  and  saves  us. 

"  A  great  spirit  leaves  the  earth,  who,  whether  he  meas- 
ured the  heights,  or  sounded  the  depths,  showed  himself 
equally  able.  The  most  sacred  of  all  books  was  his  invalu- 
able treasure.  He  numbered  and  proved  even  words  and 
points.  He  ventured  into  the  obscure  depths  of  theology ; 
and  posterity  will  be  able  to  judge  to  what  extent  he  found 
footing.  What  to  others  seemed  dry,  to  him  was  verdure ; 
what  appeared  despised  by  the  many,  was  to  him  the  source 
of  light  and  power,  spirit  and  life. 

"  He  was  eyes  to  the  blind,  a  leader  to  the  weak,  a  pat- 


460  LIFE   OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

tern  to  the  strong,  a  luminary  to  the  learned,  an  ornament 
to  the  Church. 

"  A  treasury  is  closed,  in  which  the  Lord  of  all  the  treas- 
ures of  grace  had  laid  up  wondrous  wealth  of  knowledge 
and  wisdom.  A  teacher,  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  is  no 
more.  Sigh,  children  ;  your  fathers  fall  asleep." 

Return,  O  Lord,  and  let  thy  work  appear  unto  thy  ser- 
vants, and  thy  glory  unto  their  children ! 

May  we  who  are  still  alive,  and  remain  unto  this  day, 
seek  the  footsteps  of  our  blessed  predecessors,  and  be  fol- 
lowers of  them  who  now  inherit  the  promises  ! 

And  let  the  rising  youth  of  the  Church  set  before  them 
the  great  example  of  these  men  of  God.  Let  them  study 
their  writings,  enter  into  their  views,  aspire  to  the  attain- 
ment of  the  end  for  which  they  lived,  from  motives  noble 
as  their  own,  and  pray  to  be  baptized  with  a  double  portion 
of  their  spirit.  The  work  the  world  needs  is  not  yet  done; 
it  demands  a  host  of  men  strong,  resolute,  and  faithful  as 
Adam  Clarke.  We  are  verging  upon  times  which  will  task 
the  loftiest  energies  of  martyrs,  and  heroes,  and  apostles. 
Both  Providence  and  prophecy  are  alike  sounding  their 
trumpet  call  to  the  candidates  for  this  great  career  of  toil 
and  triumph.  Immeasurable  rewards  open  to  the  view  of 
the  faithful,  and  the  crown  of  glory  shines  in  the  hand  of  the 
Judge ;  but  the  victory  can  only  be  won  by  the  brave,  and 
the  race  run  by  the  swift. 


SUPPLEMENT 

OF  ILLUSTRATIVE  PASSAGES  FROM  DR.  CLARKE'S 
CORRESPONDENCE. 

THE  passages,  seven  in  number,  marked  with  the  asterisk, 
have  been  already  printed ;  the  rest,  I  believe,  are  now  for 
the  first  time  given  to  the  light. 

DATE  OF  DR.  CLARKE'S  BIRTH.    FAMILY  DESCENT. 

Dublin,  1825. — I  am  at  Mr.  Adam  Boyd's.  .  .  .  His 
brother  John  was  my  godfather.  I  have  got  from  Adam 
the  following  information :  "  My  brother  John  was  sent 
from  Dublin  to  Castle-Dawson  to  do  some  important  work. 
He  returned  the  next  year,  1761.  In  the  interim  he  stood 
godfather  for  you.  You  were,  therefore,  born  in  1760  or 
1761."  This  is  certainly  bringing  the  question  into  a  nar- 
row compass.  Tell  John  that  he  proves  positively  that  his 
aunt,  my  grandmother  Clarke,  was  an  immediate  descend- 
ant of  the  earls  of  Kilmaronock,  whose  family  name  was 
Boyd.  His  own  grandfather  was  always  called  Kilmaro- 
nock, as  standing  close  to  the  earldom. 

RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE. 

Letter  to  Mr.  Wesley,  from  Norwich,  1784. — Since  I  was 
justified  I  have  expected  and  prayed  for  the  inestimable 
blessing  of  a  heart  in  all  things  devoted  to  God ;  which,  soon 
after  I  received  pardon,  I  found  to  be  indispensably  neces- 
sary. But,  meeting  with  little  encouragement,  I  obtained 
it  not,  and  so  spent  that  time  in  offering  a  maimed  sacrifice. 
I  continued  in  this  state,  or  at  most  advancing  slowly,  till  I 


462  LIFE  OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

came  to  this  kingdom,  when  you  ordered  me  into  the  Brad- 
ford circuit.  Here  the  good  Lord  was  pleased  to  give  me 
a  sight  of  the  unspeakable  depravity  of  my  heart,  and  in 
such  a  measure  that  the  distress  I  felt  was  as  painful  in  sus- 
taining as  it  would  be  difficult  in  describing.  I  suppose,  at 
that  time,  had  there  not  been  a  sea  between  me  and  my  na- 
tive country,  and  a  want  of  money  to  carry  me  thither,  it  is 
probable  I  should  have  made  a  speedy  departure  from  the 
work  in  which  I  was  engaged.  I  regarded  nothing,  not  even 
life  itself,  in  comparison  with  having  my  heart  cleansed 
from  all  sin;  and  began  to  seek  it  with  full  purpose  of  soul. 
Thus  I  continued  till  December,  1782,  when  I  opened  my 
mind  to  a  local  preacher,  who,  I  have  heard,  was  a  partaker 
of  this  precious  privilege.  From  him  I  received  some  en- 
couragement and  direction ;  and  I  set  out  afresh,  endeavor- 
ing to  believe  in  the  willingness  of  my  God  to  accomplish 
this  great  work.  Soon  after,  while  wrestling  in  prayer,  and 
endeavoring,  self-desperately,  to  believe,  I  found  a  change 
wrought  in  my  soul  which  I  endeavored  through  grace  to 
maintain,  amid  grievous  temptations  and  accusations  of  the 
subtle  foe,  who  seemed  now  determined  either  to  spoil  me 
of  my  confidence,  or  to  render  me  as  miserable,  through 
reiterated  temptations,  as  I  was  before  when  mourning  the 
inbeing  of  his  infernal  offspring.  But  my  indulgent  Saviour 
continued  to  support  and  encourage  me,  and  enabled  me 
with  all  my  power  to  preach  the  glad  tidings  to  others  ;  so 
that  I  soon  saw  more  of  the  effects  of  the  travail  of  my  Re- 
deemer's soul  than  I  had  seen  before.  .  .  .  But  to  this  day 
I  am  in  doubt  respecting  the  work  in  my  own  soul,  not 
being  able  with  propriety  either  to  affirm  that  it  is  (fully) 
done,  or  to  deny  it  as  undone.  I  am  in  a  strait  betwixt 
two  ;  a  fear  of  denying,  lest  thereby  I  should  forfeit  what  I 
have  received,  or  grieve  the  blessed  Spirit ;  and  again,  a 
fear  of  affirming  that  it  is  done,  lest  I  should  deceive  my- 
self. When  you  consider  this,  dear  sir,  you  can  easily 
perceive  how  much  I  stand  in  need  of  your  advice  and 
direction. 


SUPPLEMENT.  463 

THE  ORDINATION  AND  SACRAMENT  QUESTION,  ETC. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  London  and  Bristol  trustees  were  ad- 
mitted. Mr.  Pine  was  spokesman.  He  read  an  address 
and  resolutions.  They  were :  1 .  That  there  be  no  ordina- 
tion, no  ecclesiastical  titles  among  the  preachers ;  that  Bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  Supper  never  be  administered  by  any 
who  are  not  episcopally  ordained;  and  that  there  be  no 
preaching  in  church  hours  in  any  place,  except  where  the 
people  without  a  dissenting  voice  are  for  it.  2.  That  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  concerns  of  the  Societies  be  so  sepa- 
rated that  the  preachers  shall  manage  the  former,  the  trus- 
tees and  stewards  the  latter." 

Here  I  cannot  help  remarking  their  wonderful  consistency. 
They  agree  that  the  spiritual  concerns  of  the  Societies  be 
left  to  the  preachers ;  yet  they  pretend  to  interfere  with  the 
Lord's  ordinances,  times  of  preaching,  etc.  Are  not  these 
the  spiritual  concerns  of  the  Society  ?  And  does  not  their 
first  proposition  contradict  this  latter  ?  Lastly,  they  make 
a  proposal  "  that  all  the  preachers  who  are  of  their  mind  do 
unite  with  them,  (unless  the  Conference  grant  their  request,) 
and  pledge  themselves  to  give  them  all  countenance  and 
support."  Here  you  see  they  fully  intend  to  divide  us,  that 
they  may  rule  the  roast.  But  know  all  men  by  these  pres- 
ents, that  Adam  Clarke  will  never  be  a  trustee  preacher. 
They  would  abolish  ordinations  and  titles,  merely  that,  be- 
ing kept  in  a  lower  character,  they  might  with  the  more 
propriety  lord  it  over  us.  If  ordination  and  the  sacraments 
be  given  up,  some  preachers  will  undoubtedly  withdraw, 
among  whom  Adam  Clarke  will  be  found. — Letter  from  the 
Bristol  Conference,  1794. 

The  Conference  has  opened  with  reading  the  Minutes  of 
the  several  Districts.  The  London  folks  recommend  travel- 
ing bishops. — Letter  from  the  Manchester  Conference.  1799. 

The  regular  Conference  business  is  not  yet  entered  into. 
Not  one  character  yet  examined.  Yet  we  have  been  doing 
important  business;  you  will  see  all  by  and  by.  I  told 


464  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE> 

you  J.  Dutton  was  here.  He  is  exactly  the  same  thing  he 
was.  There  are,  it  seems,  objections  against  his  preaching ; 
and  Mr.  P.,  who  has  had  them  all  detailed  from  Mr.  E., 
says  he  thinks  he  will  not  be  received  into  full  connection. 
He  told  me  the  objections.  They  appear  to  me  to  be  su- 
premely ridiculous.  Judge  from  a  specimen :  J.  Dutton 
has  a  text  for  every  day  in  the  week,  which  he  takes  from 
the  calendar ;  J.  Dutton  made  an  electrifying  machine  at 
Howden ;  J.  Dutton  uses  hard  words  in  his  preaching, 
which  the  people  cannot  understand ;  such  as  exhibit,  exag- 
gerate, manifest,  etc.  Ha !  ha !  ha !  * — Ibid. 

The  characters  were  next  gone  into.  Not  one  charge  of 
moral  evil  against  a  soul.  Three  or  four  have  left  us, 
whom  we  would  have  expelled  had  they  remained  among 
us.  What  a  mercy  it  is  that  God  has  permitted  me  to  travel 
seventeen  years,  and  there  never  was  the  smallest  objec- 
tion brought  against  me  at  any  Conference,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly !  May  he  continue  to  preserve  me. — Ibid,  1799. 

THE  ESSAY  ON  TOBACCO. 

I  can  tell  you  a  piece  of  strange  news.  The  Methodists 
of  Congleton  were  remarkable  for  their  immoderate  attach- 
ment to  tobacco,  etc.  When  my  pamphlet  got  to  the  place 
it  was  read  by  several.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shadford,  who  had 
used  this  pernicious  weed  for  forty  years,  gave  it  up  at  a 
stroke ;  the  rest  of  the  Society  followed  the  example.  They 
then  began  to  mourn  and  pray  for  forgiveness.  God  poured 
out  his  Spirit  upon  them,  and  such  a  revival  has  taken  place 
as  hath  seldom  been  heard  of.  The  Society  is  more  than 
doubled ;  and  Mr.  Reece,  who  is  the  assistant,  and  Mr. 
Shadford,  both  declared  in  Conference  to-day  that  the  whole 
of  the  revival  was,  under  God,  owing  to  the  pamphlet.  Mr. 
Shadford  added,  that  both  himself  and  his  wife  had  great 
reason  to  magnify  God  for  it,  as  they  were  now  better  in 
their  health,  in  their  souls,  and  in  their  circumstances.  Mr. 

*  Mr.  Dutton  was  received. 


SUPPLEMENT.  465 

Reece  said,  the  pamphlet  has  got  into  all  the  neighboring 
Societies,  and  is  doing  immense  good. 

THE  USEFUL  SEEMON. 

1794. — I  preached  yesterday  at  ten  o'clock  at  Salford,  to 
a  very  great  congregation.  Several  thought  it  the  most  ex- 
cellent sermon  I  ever  preached.  With  me  it  is  a  maxim, 
"  The  sermon  that  does  good  is  a  good  sermon."  You  re- 
member Mr.  Berwick  mentioning  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Broad- 
hurst  ;  he  found  peace  at  his  class  last  Friday,  and  she 
found  a  clear  sense  of  pardon  under  the  sermon  yesterday. 
This  is  worth  my  visit  to  Manchester.  I  dined  at  Mr. 

A 's,  where  I  met  Miss  and   Mary  Marsden.     I  then 

met  the  select  band,  and  great  was  our  rejoicing  together. 
In  the  evening  I  preached  at  Oldham-street  to  a  very  large 
congregation ;  but,  as  usual  in  that  chapel,  I  made  very 
poor  work.  I  met  the  Society,  which  was  at  least  two- 
thirds  of  the  congregation,  for  most  would  stay ;  and  found 
it  a  time  of  enlargement  and  power. 

BUDLEIGH-SALTERTON  CHAPEL. 

Bristol,  1809. — I  have  not  seen  Mr.  Wood's  family.  He 
went  down  to  Taunton  yesterday  to  open  Mr.  Lackington's 
chapel,  who,  it  appears,  is  willing  to  give  it  up  to  the  Meth- 
odists on  certain  conditions ;  one  of  which  is,  that  the 
preachers  who  officiate  in  it  shall  wear  gowns.  If  he  had 
said  that  each  shall  be  supplied  with  a  new  coat,  it  would 
have  been  better. 

STUDIES. 

To  his  son  John. — We  have  agreed  that  you  shall  stay 
at  least  a  year  at  your  uncle  Johnson's,  which  I  hope  you 
will  spend  to  the  very  best  advantage.  Enter  radically  into 
everything  you  attempt  to  learn ;  and  never,  never  be  con- 
tented with  superficial  knowledge  in  anything.  Go  through 
the  Persian  Pentateuch  with  as  much  speed  as  you  can,  and 
afterward  read  the  Baktyor  Nameh.  Get  every  rule  and 
example  of  Jones's  Grammar  by  hoart.  and  then  you  will 

' 


466  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

be  able  to  go  through  anything  you  may  meet  with.  I  sup- 
pose your  uncle  has  the  grammar.  I  have  spoken  to  him  to 
put  you  immediately  to  geometry,  and  after  to  learn 
Euclid's  Elements.  This,  I  hope,  you  will  apply  yourself 
to  diligently.  It  will  be  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  you 
through  life.  Do  not  read  to  hurt  your  eyes.  Be  sure  you 
never  read  with  bad  light,  or  late  at  night ;  if  you  do,  you 
will  infallibly  ruin  your  eyes.  Pray  much ;  and  take  care 
that  you  give  no  way  to  evil  tempers.  God  alone  can  save 
you  from  them. 

THE  CAUSE  OF  CUEIST  HAS  THE  FJKST  CLAIM. 
To  Mr.  Boyd,  1815. — Your  piece  on  St.  Paul  is  too  val- 
uable not  to  be  brought  in  somewhere  [in  the  Commentary.] 
I  wish  I  had  had  it  when  I  wrote  the  character  of  that  apos- 
tle at  the  end  of  the  Acts.  However,  I  will  watch  for  a 
proper  place  to  introduce  it.  I  am  going  off  this  day  to  a 
missionary  meeting  at  Birmingham,  from  which  I  shall  not 
be  able  to  return  till  the  middle  of  next  week.  This  will 
make  a  great  breach  in  my  time;  but  I  believe  the  work 
to  be  of  God,  and  therefore  feel  it  my  duty  to  perform  it  in 
the  best  manner  I  can. 

METHODISM  FEARS  NO  FOE. 

To  Mr.  Boyd,  1817. — I  am  much  surprised  to  find  that 
any  of  our  preachers  should  "  labor  hard  to  dissuade  you  " 
from  publishing  your  pamphlet  against  Methodism  ;  for, 
although  I  have  a  very  high  respect  for  your  learning  and 
abilities,  I  am  sure  that  Methodism  has  nothing  to  fear  from 
anything  that  you  or  any  other  person  can  write  on  the  sub- 
ject in  question.  The  most  subtle  casuists  in  the  land  have 
long  ago  done  what  they  could,  and  Methodism  continues 
now,  as  it  was  then,  as  inexpugnable  as  the  pillars  of  the 
eternal  hills.  It  has  confuted  all  the  arguments  and  calum- 
nies ever  brought  against  it;  and  if  you  can  bring  anything 
new  worthy  consideration,  it  will  in  all  probability  confute 
that  too.  You  should  bring  forward  no  argument  that  has 


SUPPLEMENT.  467 

been  answered ;  because  that  would  expose  you  to  the  cen- 
sure of  writing  on  a  subject  which  you  did  not  understand. 
For  we  do  not  fully  understand  a  subject,  if  we  are  ignor- 
ant of  what  has  been  said  or  written  pro  or  con.  .  .  .  Have 
you  counted  the  cost,  and  answered  to  your  own  satisfaction 
the  Cui  bono?  But  I  must  not  proceed,  lest  you  should 
think  that  I  too  was  joining  in  the  strong  dissuasions  of 
Messrs.  M.  and  K.,  to  prevent  you  from  publishing.  As 
your  friend,  I  would ;  but,  as  fearing  for  my  system,  I 
would  not.  You  would  have  smiled  had  you  heard  the 
conversation  on  your  letter  when  it  came  last  night.  .  .  . 
Mary  Ann,  who  has  studied  both  sides  of  the  question,  and, 
as  you  know,  has  made  some  progress  even  in  metaphysics, 
pleasantly  said :  "  Well,  if  Mr.  Boyd  be  so  weak  as  to  go  to 
press  with  anything  of  this  nature,  I  know  not  but  I  may  be 
weak  enough  to  answer  him ;  and  shall  take  for  my  motto 
2  Kings  xix,  21  :  'This  is  the  word  that  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  concerning  him  ;  the  virgin  the  daughter  of  Zion 
hath  despised  thee,  and  laughed  thee  to  scorn ;  the  daughter 
of  Jerusalem  hath  shaken  her  head  at  thee  !'"  Now,  if  you 
cannot  laugh  at  the  quaintness  of  this  conceit,  you  will  laugh 
at  poor  Mary's  presumption.  Well,  they  all  wish  you 
were  here,  and  they  would  give  you  some  better  work  than 
polemic  divinity. 

THE  TENANT  OF  THE  CAVERN. 

To  Mr.  Boyd,  1817. — In  passing  along  Red  Bay,  on  my 
journey  from  Belfast  coastwise  to  Bally  castle,  I  observed 
several  caves  opening  to  the  sea.  Our  driver  stopped,  and 
I  went  into  one  where  I  saw  a  smith's  forge,  but  no  person. 
I  went  into  a  second,  and  saw  a  woman  about  sixty  years 
of  age,  who  had  made  it  her  residence.  She  keeps  a  goat, 
which  browses  about  the  fields,  and  furnishes  her  with  milk. 
She  gave  us  some,  for  which  we  gave  her  ample  pay.  Ob- 
serving the  roof  and  floor  of  this  wretched  habitation  to  be 
damp,  I  asked  her  how  she  could  live  in  it,  especially  in 
winter.  She  said  she  did  very  well,  except  when  the  wind 


468  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 

blew  from  the  sea ;  and  she  was  then  very  cold.  Her  bed 
is  never  otherwise  than  damp  throughout  winter  or  summer. 
She  is  a  good  Catholic,  and  swears  hard  when  a  little  pro- 
voked. She  gave  me  to  understand  that  she  "  sold  a  drop 
of  whisky."  I  was  astonished  at  the  power  of  accommoda- 
tion which  belongs  to  human  nature ;  by  habit  and  resolu- 
tion a  man  may  make  all  circumstances  his  own,  and  live 
anywhere  but  in  the  fire  or  under  water. 

THE   THREE  WITNESSES. 

To  Mr.  Boyd,  1817. — I  have  settled  the  point  on  the 
three  heavenly  Witnesses.  After  I  had  written  my  note 
on  1  John  v,  7,  and  my  dissertation  at  the  end  of  that  Epis- 
tle, I  looked  over  Person  ;  *  but  I  found  nothing  essential 
to  add  to  what  had  been  said.  I  have,  however,  quoted  him, 
and  have  examined  authorities  which  he  never  saw. 

A  BIETH  FEOM   ABOVE. 

To  the  same. — Well,  we  are  getting  on  to  Christmas. 
May  we  all  be  born  of  incorruptible  seed !  A  birth  from 
above  beggars  all  earthly  nobility.  To  them  who  believe 
in  His  name,  the  Lord  Jesus  gives  power,  egovaiav,  the 
privilege  and  authority,  to  become'the  sons  of  God.  This, 
my  dear  Boyd,  I  wish  you  and  myself;  that,  belonging  to 
the  heavenly  family,  we  may  be  kings  and  priests  unto  God, 

THE  PEINCESS  CHAELOTTE. 

To  his  son  John,  1817. — Mr.  Fisher  wishes  much  to 
have  some  memoirs  of  the  princess ;  can  any  authentic  be 
procured  ?  If  I  had  a  few  well  attested  facts  relative  to  her 
education,  manner  of  thinking,  political  intentions,  sayings, 
actions,  etc.,  I  think  I  could  draw  up  a  good  thing ;  some- 
thing that  would  set  the  nation  right,  and  vindicate  the  con- 
duct of  the  regent ;  for  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  he  has 
been  unjustly  blamed.  Besides,  I  do  think  that  the  nation 
*  Letters  to  Travis  on  the  Genninonoss  of  1  John  v,  7. 


SUPPLEMENT.  469 

has  made  too  much  of  this  death.  We  have  acted  as  if  the 
throne  were  vacant,  or  as  if  we  had  no  legitimate  stock,  or 
the  present  ruler  were  acting  a  most  unconstitutional  part, 
and  there  were  hope  for  the  empjre  only  in  the  life  of  the 
princess.  Now,  the  reverse  of  all  this  is  true  ;  and  I  should 
like  to  have  some  excuse  for  a  pamphlet  which  might  set  all 
to  rights.  Green  would  glean  up  all  that  the  newspapers 
have ;  and  you  and  he,  and  some  others,  might  get  me  all  I 
want. — N.  B.  Naples  and  Spain  could  only  inherit  in  the 
Stuart  line ;  but  they  are  cut  off  by  the  Act  of  Settlement 
in  the  posterity  of  Sophia,  being  Protestants. 

MODERN  SCIENCE. 

To  Mr.  Boyd,  1818. — I  consider  the  whole  system  of 
philosophy  unsettled,  and  chemistry  and  medicine  to  be 
retrograde.  Even  in  my  short  life  I  have  seen  many 
changes ;  systems,  which  seemed  to  have  been  demonstrated, 
overturned  from  their  very  bases.  Two  years  ago  I  talked 
with  my  old  preceptor,  Dr.  Perceval,  under  whom  I  studied 
chemistry  at  Trinity  College.  I  mentioned  the  doubts  he 
proposed  in  his  concluding  lecture  relative  to  that  system 
which  then  seemed  to  have  obtained  universal  credit,  and 
that  he  had  lived  to  see  all  these  doubts  realized.  He  ob- 
served that  he  had  equal  doubts  concerning  the  present  sys- 
tem of  chemistry,  and  had  reason  to  believe  that  all  our 
boasted  modern  discoveries  would  in  process  of  time  be  en- 
tirely nullified.  As  to  the  geologists,  they  are  as  deeply  in  the 
mud  as  the  chemists  are  in  the  mire.  There  is  no  end  to 
their  world-making ;  and,  in  my  mind,  they  are  worthy  of 
little  regard.  The  foundation  of  God  alone  standeth  sure, 
and  to  this  they  will  all  turn  back  when  the  pure  light 
shines  upon  them  ;  or  rather,  when  they  permit  it  to  shine 
into  them.  Have  a  little  patience,  and  all  will  come  about. 
The  bombast  of  the  present  system  will  soon  make  its  last 
explosion. 


470  LIFE   OF  ADAM   CLARKE. 


THE  LAND'S  END.* 

Oct.  11,  1819. — I  write  this  on  the  last  projecting  point 
of  rock  of  the  Land's  End ',  upward  of  two  hundred  feet  per- 
pendicular above  the  sea,  which  is  raging  and  roaring  tre 
raendously,  threatening  destruction  to  myself  and  the  narrow 
point  of  rock  on  which  I  am  sitting.  On  my  right  hand  is 
the  Bristol  Channel,  and  before  me  the  vast  Atlantic  Ocean. 
There  is  not  one  inch  of  land  from  the  place  on  which  my 
feet  rest,  to  the  American  continent.  This  is  the  place 
where  Charles  Wesley  composed  those  fine  lines : 

"  Lo,  on  a  narrow  neck  of  land, 
'Twixt  two  unbounded  seas,  I  stand,"  etc. 

The  point  of  rock  is  about  three  feet  broad  at  its  termina- 
tion ;  and  the  fearless  adventurer  will  here  place  his  foot,  to 
be  able  to  say  that  he  has  been  on  the  uttermost  inch  of 
land  in  the  British  empire  westward.  On  this  spot  the  foot 
of  your  husband  now  rests,  while  he  writes  the  words  of  the 
same  hymn : 

"  0  God !  my  inmost  soul  convert, 
And  deeply  on  my  thoughtful  heart 

Eternal  things  impress : 
Give  me  to  feel  their  solemn  weight, 
And  tremble  on  the  brink  of  fate, 

And  wake  to  righteousness. 

ST.  AUSTELL  CHAPEL.* 

Oct.  22. — I  am  just  come  in  after  preaching  here.  The 
crowd  was  immense.  They  had  just  enlarged  the  chapel, 
building  a  new  end  and  gallery  to  it.  When  I  was  about 
to  take  my  text,  the  gallery  gave  way  ;  the  timbers  fairly 
came  out  of  the  walls,  yet  it  did  not  fall  down  but  the  con- 
fusion was  awful.  I  was  close  to  the  gallery,  and  distinctly 
saw  the  peril ;  and,  had  it  come  down,  I  knew  I  must  have 
been  the  first  victim  ;  but  at  least  two  hundred  others 
would  also  have  been  killed.  I  stood  in  my  place ;  for,  had 
I  moved,  universal  terror  would  have  taken  place,  and  many 
must  have  fallen  victims  to  an  impetuous  rush.  The  chapel 


SUPPLEMENT.  471 

was  soon  nearly  emptied,  and  no  one  was  hurt.  Many 
came  back  again,  and  I  preached  ;  but  I  knew  not  till  the 
end  of  the  service  all  the  miracle  it  required  to  save  us. 
Then  it  was  found,  that  owing  to  the  pressure  in  the  gallery, 
the  timbers  being  too  short,  they  had  started  out  from  the 
walls  two  feet,*  and  the  gallery  actually  shook,  having  noth- 
ing but  its  pillars  to  support  it.  Our  son  John  being  be- 
neath could  see  this  plainer  than  I  could  at  the  time  ;  and  he 
saw  also,  that,  if  it  fell,  he  must  be  killed  if  he  kept  his 
place,  which  was  immediately  before  the  pulpit ;  but,  as 
he  knew  that  his  father  must  be  the  first  victim,  he  reso- 
lutely kept  his  situation,  expecting  eternity  every  moment. 
But  enough  of  this.  It  makes  one's  blood  run  chill.  This 
is  the  last  crowd  I  ever  wish  to  see. 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

To  his  son  John,  181^. — Some  time  ago  you  requested 
me  to  set  about  writing  my  life.  This  is  a  task  which  I 
have  contemplated,  but  long  feared  to  attempt ;  but  I  have 
felt  more  on  the  subject  since  you  wrote  to  me,  and  have 
lately  been  obliged  to  think  deeply,  as  I  received  credible 
information  that  my  Life  is  cut  and  dry,  ready  for  the  eye 
of  the  public  as  soon  as  my  heart  is  cold.  I  came  in  here 
(Liverpool)  last  Wednesday  evening.  In  a  private  conver- 
sation with  Mr.  Drew,  he  most  solemnly  begged  and  charged 
me  to  begin  the  work ;  for  some  hackneyed,  hunger-bitten 
scriveners  were  ready  to  praise  me  to  death  in  prose,  and 
murder  me  in  verse.  I  believe  all  my  conversations^  and 
anecdotes  which  I  have  related  concerning  myself  and  my 
family,  for  several  years  past,  have  been  carefully  taken 
down  and  preserved.  Mr.  Comer  took  up  the  same  subject, 
and  most  instantly  begged  me  to  defer  it  no  longer ;  because 
I  suppose,  they  all  see  I  am  going ;  and  I  am  led  to  think 
myself  that  I  may  be  soon  gone.  Well,  what  should  I  do  ? 
This  Comment  is  still  hanging  heavy  on  my  hands ;  but,  it 
is  true,  I  am  free  from  the  Records.  This  gives  a  measure 
*  Some  of  the  timbers,  of  course. 


472  LIFE    OF   ADAM   CLAKKE. 

of  leisure,  and  saves  from  much  anxiety.  Laying  every- 
thing together  with  the  Semel  calcanda  via,  I  sat  down  on 
Friday  in  Mr.  Comer's  little  study,  and  made  a  trial.  All 
seemed  light,  all  recollection ;  circumstances  and  incidents, 
in  their  regular  chronologic  order,  crowded  upon  me.  I 
began  with  the  origin  of  the  distinction  of  families  ;  accounted 
for  our  name ;  gave  as  far  as  I  could,  a  history  of  our  fam- 
ily ;  gave  a  short  sketch  of  my  grandfather  ;  then  the  his 
tory  of  my  father,  his  studies,  projected  voyage  to  America 
employment,  character,  and  death ;  of  my  mother ;  my 
brother,  his  education,  professional  pursuits,  voyages,  death, 
and  of  the  children  left  by  him,  John,  Adam,  Thrasydes  and 
Edward  ;  then  my  own  birth  ;  singularities  of  my  childhood, 
development  of  genius,  commencement  of  studies,  the  la- 
bors of  my  brother  and  self  in  our  little  farm,  etc.,  etc. ; 
and  in  twenty-three  closely-written  pages  I  have  brought 
myself  on  in  my  journey  through  life  to  the  ninth  year. 
Unless  death  stop  me,  I  shall  not  stop  now  till  this  be  fin- 
ished. I  am  delighted  with  it;  it  is  all  incident.  I  have 
written  it  in  the  third  person.  This  form  can  be  altered,  if 
necessary  ;  the  collection  of  the  facts  is  the  grand  thing.  I 
have  always  had  it  in  purpose  to  write  my  own  life  as  Cai- 
sar  wrote  his  Commentaries.  This  [way]  prevents  egotism. 
When  Mr.  Thoresby  wrote  his  own^life,  the  pronoun  "I" 
occurred  so  often  in  it,  that  the  printer  was  obliged  to  bor- 
row /'s  from  his  brother-printers,  as  his  own  had  run  out. 
Your  father  has  never  been  in  the  habit  of  speaking  much 

of  himself;  and  it  would  ill  become  him,  when  about  to 

«  ' 

pass  the  great  deep,  to  occupy  his  time  or  that  of  his  read- 
ers with  these  ceremonious  and  generally  unwelcome 
pronouns. 

THE  FEAST   OF   REASON. 

May,  1822. — The  company  [at  Kensington  Palace]  con- 
sisted of  His  Royal  Highness,  [the  Duke  of  Sussex,]  Dr. 
Parr,  Judge  Johnstone,  Sir  Anthony  Carlisle,  the  Rev.  T. 
Maurice,  the  Hon.  Gower,  Solomon  Da  Costa,  Hon. 


SUPPLEMENT.  473 

Colonel  Wildman,  Sir  Alexander  Johnstone,  Mr.  Pettigrew, 
Lord  Blessington,  and  A.  C.  .  .  .  To  give  you  a  sketch  of 
the  conversation  is  impossible ;  but  I  can  give  you  some 
outlines :  The  manners  of  the  great  were  freely  canvassed ; 
the  bench  of  bishops  was  dissected ;  the  degradation  of  the 
Royal  Society  was  deplored ;  the  character  and  conduct  of 
the  late  Sir  Joseph  Banks  criticized ;  the  talents  of  the  minis- 
try estimated ;  the  Marquis  of  Londonderry  characterized  ; 
several  texts  of  Scripture,  proposed  by  the  Duke  of  Sussex, 
discussed  ;  Bonaparte  eulogized,  as  one  who  had  never  bro- 
ken a  treaty,  and  who,  in  the  flush  of  victory  ever  offered 
peace  to  his  subdued  enemies  ;  the  probability  of  a  Russian 
war  conjectured  ;  the  writings  of  Aristotle  praised  ;  the  dif- 
ferent species  of  Greek  literature  discriminated ;  with  many 
other  matters  which  I  cannot  now  detail. 

MISSIONAEY   ANNIVERSAKY. 

London,  May  6,  1823. — Yesterday  we  had  our  public 
meeting.  It  was  a  very  good  one,  and  well  attended.  The 
chief  speakers  were  Mr.  Hughes,  (who  is  very  ill,  and  I 
think  dying,)  Sir  George  Rose,  Mr.  Wilberforce,  Mr.  Ste- 
phen, (Master  in  Chancery,)  Mr.  Bacon,  the  statuary,  Mr. 
Williams,  M.  P.,  and  others  ;  almost  all  were  churchmen, 
and  seemed  to  rally  around  us.  These  eminent  churchmen 
bore  the  finest  and  the  most  decided  testimony  to  the  excel- 
lence and  glory  of  Methodism.  The  collection  I  believe 
was  large.  I  made  some  mistake  in  the  account  I  sent  you 
of  my  work.  Mr.  Jay  had  got  at  Queen-street  between  £80 
and  £90,  and  two  gold  rings.  My  friends  were  determined 
that  none  should  go  beyond  me  ;  and  my  gleanings  on  Sun- 
day morning,  after  Mr.  Jay's  harvest,  were  £92,  10s.  My 
collection  on  Thursday  night  was  £72  ;  and  the  before-men- 
tioned at  Queen-street  was  the  largest  collection  made  this 
year  in  the  city.  So,  you  see,  your  old  weather-beaten 
father  is  still  at  the  head  of  the  poll. 

During  my  speech  yesterday  I  mentioned  the  Shetlands  ; 
and  what  was  the  consequence  ?  I  had  one  ten  pound  note 


47-i  LIFE   OF  ADAM    CLARKE. 

put  in  my  hand,  another  ten  pound,  and  a  five  pound.  Mr. 
Bunting,  being  afraid  that  I  should  get  all  the  monish,  warned 
the  congregation  to  give  for  the  foreign  missions  ;  and  so  I 
got  no  more.  However,  I  was  content  with  what  I  did  get. 

PLEASANT  VOYAGE  TO  IRELAND. 

The  sea  was  very  smooth,  and  we  were  crowded  with  pas- 
sengers ;  several  of  them  persons  of  distinction.  We  had 
three  clergyman,  two  of  them  D.D.'s  ;  three  generals,  Welsh, 
Greaves,  and  Bingham ;  several  majors  and  colonels ;  one 
Indian  judge  ;  some  members  of  Parliament ;  and  some 
ladies  of  rank.  We  had  no  less  than  five  carriages  on  board, 
with  horses,  servants,  etc.  We  were  crowded ;  but  such  an 
agreeable  set  I  never  met  with  in  any  place.  All  conversed 
with  me  freely  and  frequently ;  the  generals,  and  the  other 
military  men.  On  Sunday  morning  the  ladies  sent  me  a 
message  desiring  me  to  preach  ;  the  officers  joined ;  but,  as 
there  were  three  clergymen,  I  thought  it  much  better  that 
they  should  be  asked,  as  they  were  very  respectable  and  in- 
deed pious  men.  They  consented.  An  awning  was  placed 
over  the  quarter-deck.  One  read  prayers ;  another,  the  les- 
sons ;  and  the  third  preached.  It  was  really  a  good  sermon 
of  its  kind,  and  read  well  by  its  author,  Dr.  Woodward,  son 
of  the  bishop  of  Cloyne.  ...  In  the  evening  we  got  into 
knots.  I  had  invitations  on  all  hands  to  visit  different  coun- 
try-seats near  Limerick  and  Cork,  but  was  obliged  to  decline 
them  all,  as  my  stay  was  to  be  so  short.  They  tried  me  on 
all  subjects,  religious,  civil,  philosophical,  and  literary. 
Blessed  be  God,  who  has  given  me  some  brains,  and  enabled 
me  to  cultivate  them,  I  was  not  at  a  loss  in  any  one  instance, 
but  spoke  largely  on  all.  .  .  .  After  long  sailing  we  got  into 
the  Channel.  The  prospects  on  both  sides  the  river  were 
most  lovely.  Our  French  horn  blew  different  airs — "Adeste 
fideles?  "  God  save  the  king,"  and  some  psalm-tunes  ;  and 
the  returning  echoes  were  the  finest  I  ever  witnessed. 


SUPPLEMENT.  475 

OPENING  OF  EASTBKOOK  CHAPEL,  BRADFORD,  YORKSHIRE. 
Sept.  4,  1825. — I  have  now  finished  my  work  at  this  place. 
It  is  evening,  and,  while  the  rest  are  gone  to  hear  Mr.  Les- 
sey,  I  sit  down  to  write  to  you.  I  preached  this  morning 
at  the  Old  Chapel.  It  was  not  a  congregation,  nor  an  as- 
sembly, nor  a  concourse,  nor  a  crowd,  but  a  tremendous 
torrent  of  human  beings,  produced  by  a  conflux  from  the 
thirty -two  points  of  the  compass,  of  this  town  and  its  vicinity. 
I  thought  preaching  would  have  been  impossible ;  and  it 
would  have  been  so,  had  not  W.  Dawson  got  out  into  the 
burying-ground,  and  carried  off  one  thousand  of  the  people 
with  him.  I  began  at  about  half  after  nine,  the  chapel  being 
then  thronged.  To  deceive  me,  one  slyly  stopped  the  clock 
at  a  quarter  before  ten.  I  had  in  a  few  minutes  perfect 
stillness;  preached  till  twelve,  not  knowing  how  time  went 
on.  My  voice  was  as  loud  as  a  trumpet,  and  I  spoke  till 
body  and  soul  were  nearly  bidding  each  other  a  final  fare- 
well. The  spirit  of  glory  and  of  God  rested  upon  all ;  and 
I  felt  a  hope  that  not  a  soul  there  would  ever  turn  again  to 
folly.  Though  there  had  been  already  three  collections,  at 
the  first  of  which  on  Friday  I  got  them  £100,  yet  this  morn- 
ing I  got  upward  of  £100  more,  besides  what  Mr.  Dawson 
£ot  in  the  yard.  I  came  to  my  lodgings  in  a  piteous  state ; 
a  strong  pain  between  my  shoulders,  indicating  inflammation 
of  the  diaphragm.  .  .  .  Leeds  comes  next.  I  almost  dread 
the  human  billows,  the  mountain-swells  of  thousands  who 
will  be  there. 

THE  FAR  NORTH. 

Northwick,  Lat.  61  N.,  July  6,  1828. — I  have  this  day 
had  the  highest  honor  of  my  life,  having  preached  Christ 
crucified  to  the  inhabitants  (on  this  line)  of  the  very  ends 
of  the  earth ;  beyond  which  the  sound  of  the  Gospel  never 
was  heard,  and  indeed  beyond  which,  in  this  direction,  there 
is  no  human  inhabitant.  The  huge  hills  of  serpentine  rock 
on  either  hand,  with  scarcely  any  vegetable  covering,  and 


476  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

of  the  islands  and  mainland  on  either  hand,  answering  nearly 
to  the  description  of  Ovid : 

"Set  locus  extremis  Scyihia  glacialis  in  oris, 
Triste  solum,  sterilis,  sine  f ruffe,  sine  arbore,  tell  us  ,• 
Frigus  iners  illic  habitant,  Fallorque,  Tremorqve, 
J£t  jejuna  Fames." — Met.  viii,  ver.  788-91.* 

, COUNSELS  TO  THE  ZETLAND  MISSIONAEIES. 

God  seems  to  have  opened  your  way  wonderfully  to  a 
people  who  seem  to  be  prepared  for  himself.  I  hope  you 
will  be  enabled  to  enter  at  every  opened  door ;  and  by  all 
means  form  societies  in  every  place  where  you  preach,  if 
possible.  You  remember  what  our  Large  Minutes  say  on 
the  subject ;  that  "  where  we  preach  often  without  doing  this, 
our  seed  has  been  sown  by  the  wayside."  If  you  can  get 
but  a  dozen  to  meet  in  a  place,  on  our  rules,  form  them  into 
a  class ;  and  show  everywhere  the  great  advantages  of  this  : 
and  this  is  what  we  mean  in  that  article  of  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  "1  believe  in  the  communion  of  saints."  It  does  not 
mean  [only]  receiving  the  Lord's  Supper  together.  .  .  . 
Show  that  God's  people  acted  in  this  way  in  all  ages ;  and 
that,  without  such  advantages,  even  the  best  disposed  make 
little  advance  in  the  divine  life. 

Preach  the  whole  truth,  but  not  in.  a  controversial  way ; 
and  dwell  especially  on  Christ's  love  to  all  sinners,  salvation 
by  faith,  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  and  redemption  from  all 
sin.  I  have  often  successfully  combated  the  Presbyterians 
with  those  words  of  their  own  Catechism  :  "  Quest.  36.  What 
are  the  benefits  which  in  this  life  do  either  accompany  or 
flow  from  justification,  adoption,  and  sanctification  ?  Ans. 
They  are,  assurance  of  God's  love,  peace  of  conscience,  joy 

*  "  Where  frozen  Scythia's  utmost  bound  is  placed, 

A  desert  lies,  a  melancholy  waste, 

In  yellow  crops  their  nature  never  smiled, 

No  fruitful  tree  to  shade  the  barren  wild  ; 

There  sluggish  cold  its  icy  station  makes, 

There  paleness  frights,  and  anguish  trembling  shakes ; 

Of  pining  famine  this  the  fated  seat, 

To  whom  my  orders,  in  these  words,  repeat." 


SUPPLEMENT.  477 

in  the  Holy  Ghost,  increase  of  grace,  and  perseverence  there- 
in unto  the  end.  Rom.  v,  1,  2,  5;  Prov.  iv,  18;  1  John 
v,  13 ;  1  Peter  i,  5."  From  these  you  may  show  the  people 
what  the  doctrine  of  their  forefathers  was,  and  press  them  to 
look  for  the  same  blessings. 

Brother  Dunn  tells  me  that  he  is  forbidden  to  preach  in 
the  churches :  so  much  the  better.  I  do  not  wish  you  to 
preach  in  any  of  their  churches.  You  are  Methodists. 
Build  on  your  own  foundation.  You  cannot  form  classes, 
if  you  preach  in  other  men's  churches  and  chapels ;  and  if 
you  do  not  form  classes,  you  do  not  the  work  of  Methodist 
preachers.  Go  on  believingly.  Read  much,  pray  much, 
believe  much.  Visit  the  people  from  house  to  house.  Take 
notice  of  the  children ;  treat  them  lovingly.  This  will  do 
the  children  good,  and  the  parents  will  like  it.  ...  All  my 
family  send  their  love  to  you.  You  have  our  constant, 
earnest  prayers. — Letter  to  the  Rev.  J.  Raby. 

TO  OBTAIN  BELIEF  IN  DEPRESSION. 

Bristol,  April,  1828. — I  get  ground  but  very  slowly.  The 
easterly  cold  winds  and  wet  weather  are  much  against  me  ; 
and,  if  some  genial  temperature  do  not  soon  prevail,  I  can- 
not divine  when  I  shall  be  able  to  remove.  News  came  to- 
day that  Mr.  Myles  is  dead.  He  preached  on  Good  Friday, 
Luke  xxiii,  48 ;  and  gave  the  sacrament  on  Easter  Sunday, 
and  died  a  few  days  after.  To-day  I  have  been  able  with 
much  pain  to  get  on  my  coat.  I  have  nothing  new  to  add. 
That  my  mind  is  low,  very  low,  I  need  not  say.  May  God 
help  me  to  look  above,  and,  when  I  look,  to  see  always  the 
brightness  of  his  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ ! 

READING  OF  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES.* 
And  now,  my  dear  Cecilia,  I  hope  you  are  endeavoring  to 
live  in  time,  so  that  you  may  live  forever.  I  hope  you  read 
your  Bible.  What  think  you  ?  After  having  more  than 
half  a  century  read  it  so  much,  I  formed  the  resolution  on 
Jan.  1,  to  read  the  Bible  through  once  more.  I  read  the 


478  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

New  Testament  in  Greek,  and  the  Old  Testament  in  English, 
collating  it  occasionally  with  the  Hebrew:  I  bind  myself  to 
one  chapter  in  each  daily ;  but  I  have  often  read  more,  and 
have  read  over  the  five  books  of  Moses  and  the  four  Gospels. 
This  I  find  very  profitable.  Now  I  commend  this  to  you : 
and  read  so  that  your  mind  shall  feel  the  reading,  and  then 
the  reading  will  profit  you. — To  Miss  Smith,  February,  1830. 

OTHEE  KESOLDTIONS. 

With  the  new  year  I  felt  a  purpose  to  mend,  particularly 
in  two  things :  First,  to  read  my  Bible  more  regularly ;  and 
to  get  through  it  once  more  before  I  die.  Second,  to  bear 
the  evils  and  calamities  of  life  with  less  pain  of  spirit :  if  I 
suffer  wrong,  to  leave  it  to  God  to  right  me;  to  murmur 
against  no  dispensation  of  his  providence ;  to  bear  ingrati- 
tude and  unkindness  as  things  totally  beyond  my  control, 
and  consequently  things  on  account  of  which  I  should  not 
distress  myself;  and,  though  friends  and  confidants  should 
fail,  to  depend  more  on  my  everlasting  Friend. — To  Mrs. 
Rowley,  1830. 

PARENTAL  CONFIDENCE.* 

II  y  a  quelque  temps  depuis  que  je  vous  ai  ecrit  en  vous 
proposant  cette  question :  S'il  me  laudrait  vous  confier  le 
plus  grand  secret  de  mon  ame,  le  garderiez-vous  a  vous, 
sans  le  commettre  a  qui  que  ce  soit?  C'est  a  dire,  pour- 
riez-vous  le  garder  inviolablement  jusqu'a  la  mort  1  Vous 
m'avez  repondu,  Ah  que  oui !  Eh  bien,  je  vous  dirai  que 
vous  etes  la  seule  personne  au  monde  a  qui  je  puis  me  fier. 
Vous  m'aiderez  de  vos  conseils,  et  de  votre  adresse,  et  vous 
ne  me  tromperez  pas.  C'est  assez  de  termes  g6neraux : 
(jiiand  j'aurai  une  affaire  particuliere,  je  vous  le  confierai. — 
To  the  same. 

IRISH  EDUCATION. 

1831.— The  letter  I  wrote  to  the  Chief  Secretary  for  Ire- 
land, on  the  Education  of  the  Irish  poor,  makes  nearly  nine 


SU4TLEMENT.  479 

folio  pages.  It  takes  a  view  of  the  uneducated  state  of  the 
people,  the  ardent  desires  which  the  Irish  feel  for  knowl- 
edge, and  their  remarkable  aptness  to  receive  instruction ; 
an  account  of  the  six  schools  which,  in  the  course  of  April 
and  May  of  this  year,  I  established  in  very  neglected  places 
in  the  north ;  the  places  of  instruction ;  the  difference  be- 
tween education  and  cultivation;  the  great  necessity  for 
girls'  schools,  and  prudent,  humane  female  teachers ;  and 
the  easiness  of  educating  the  whole  of  the  people.  I  have 
asked  no  help  from  him,  but  have  offered  to  aid  others  by 
my  experience. 

OLD  FRIENDS  PRECEDE  HIM  TO  THE  GRAVE. 

January  10,  1832. — You  may  have  heard  that  I  was 
sent  for,  at  his  earnest  request,  to  see  Mr.  Baynes  on  his 
death-bed.  I  went  with  all  speed,  and  saw  him  on  Thurs- 
day morning ;  stayed  all  night,  and  saw  him  on  Friday. 
He  was  in  a  truly  glorious  state.  Took  the  coach  that 
evening  to  return.  It  was  dark  and  foggy,  and  the  fellow 
had  no  lamps.  I  was  apprehensive  of  danger.  She  was  full 
outside;  and  five,  instead  of  four,  within.  A  little  short  of 
the  Swan  he  swamped  over  the  coach,  and  projected  all  the 
outsides  and  the  luggage  into  the  ditch,  broke  the  pole  in 
two,  smashed  the  windows,  and  stove  in  the  side  of  the 
coach.  I  suppose  I  lay  (for  it  fell  on  my  side)  fifteen  min- 
utes, with  three  persons  on  the  top  of  me,  before  they  could 
get  us  out.  I  was  only  a  little  bruised  on  my  right  shoul- 
der, but  sadly  trampled  on  ;  and  then  had  to  stand  more 
than  an  hour,  in  the  rain  from  above  and  the  slush  below, 
before  I  could  get  relief. 

The  next  day  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Scott,  (of  Pens- 
ford.)  and  one  from  his  wife,  begging  me  to  come  to  see 
him,  as  his  life  hung  in  doubt,  and  he  wished  to  see  me  be- 
fore he  died.  I  sent  to  town  to  take  my  place.  After  my 
lute  shaking,  this  is  a  serious  experiment.  Pray  for  your 
poor  father,  who,  through  God's  mercy,  has  been  ever  ready 
to  obev  such  calls. 


480  LIFE   OF   ADAM   CLARKE. 

Pensford,  January  16. — I  got  injto  Bristol  Wednesday 
night  very  late,  and  set  off  the  next  morning  for  this  place. 
I  found  Mr.  Scott  ill ;  but  he  would  walk  from  room  to 
room,  talk  about  the  things  of  God,  and  appeared  as  if  he 
would  yet  weather  a.  few  storms.  But  he  has  continued  to 
sink,  and  is  now  as  low  as  well  can  be.  But  he  is  quite 
sensible,  and  is  very  happy  in  God.  He  seems  to  dwell  in 
God,  and  God  in  him.  I  have  not  found  a  greater  evidence 
of  complete  salvation.  His  mouth  is  ever  filled  with  the 
high  praises  of  God  for  what  he  has  wrought  in  and  for  him. 
He  is  full  of  admiration  of  the  perfections  of  the  Divine 
Nature,  and  his  wonderful  condescension  toward  the  fallen 
race  of  man.  "  God  is  love,"  is  a  frequent  ejaculation ;  and 
he  seems  to  feed  upon  it,  as  the  very  food  of  his  spirit.  He 
takes  no  food,  but  a  little  drink  to  wet  his  lips  from  time  to 
time.  This  morning  he  performed  the  last  act  of  his  life ; 
namely,  signing  a  cheque  for  £50  for  Zetland.  He  would  do 
it,  it  being  his  last  instalment ;  and,  though  he  had  only  to 
sign  his  name,  Mrs.  Scott  having  filled  up  the  cheque,  yet 
he  was  at  least  a  whole  hour  before  he  could  do  this.  His 
right  hand  had  lost  its  cunning,  and  its  strength  also.  He 
will  no  more  grasp  a  pen.  Having  loved  Zetland,  he  loved 
it  to  the  end. 

From  another  letter. — When  he  found  he  had  succeeded 
[in  signing  the  paper],  he  spoke,  as  well  as  he  could,  these 
remarkable  words  :  "  There,  for  the  work  of  God  in  Zetland, 
I  send  my  last  cheque  to  heaven  for  acceptance ;  and  the  in- 
habitants will  see  that  the  writer  will  soon  be  there  him- 
self." I  turned  the  chair  a  little  about ;  he  leaned  himself 
back,  and  sighed  out,  "Glory,  glory  be  to  God,  for  his 
astonishing  love  to  such  a  worthless  worm !  O,  God  is 
Love !"  He  is  sinking  very  fast,  and  will,  to  every  human 
appearance,  keep  his  next  Sabbath  in  heaven.  Talking  of 
resignation,  he  said  to  the  doctor,  "  My  soul  is  perfectly  re- 
signed to  the  Divine  will.  I  have  a  full  assurance  of  God's 
love ;  and  it  is  no  odds  to  me  whether  I  be  found  in  this 
world,  or  in  the  world  of  spirits  an  hour  hence." 


SUPPLEMENT.  481 

From  another. — I  seem  to  have  been  brought  here  to 
learn  to  die ;  and  the  lesson  before  me  is  both  solemn  and 
instructive.  Certainly  Mr.  Scott  is  dying  a  very  noble 
death.  May  God  make  my  last  end  like  his  1 

Mr.  Thomas  Roberts,  whom  you  must  have  known,  one 
of  our  preachers,  now  lies  dead  in  Bristol.  I  hoped  to  see 
him,  but  he  was  gone  before  I  reached  the  city.  I  should 
have  been  glad  to  see  him :  forty-seven  years  ago  I  sent 
him  out  to  preach  his  first  sermon.  He  was  an  amiable, 
sensible,  and  pious  man. 

THE  ROYAL  FBIEND. 

January,  1832. — This  morning  I  have  written  a  congratu- 
latory letter  to  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  on  his  birthday,  the 
27th. 

March  13. — From  every  appearance  I  find,  by  laying 
another  load  on  an  already  overburdened  horse,  I  may  be 
able  to  preach  for  the  schools  at  Stoke-Newington  on  April 
8th.  This  is  as  far  as  I  can  go.  I  hope  Mr.  Smith  will  take 
care  that  there  be  no  reporters  of  sermons  suffered  at  City 
Road,  on  Sunday,  25th.  I  must,  if  possible,  be  at  Kensing- 
ton Palace  on  the  evening  of  the  24th,  though  I  should  stay 
but  half  an  hour ;  as  I  have  received  the  special  invitation 
of  the  royal  duke  to  be  there.  [We  make  this  extract  to 
show  that  the  good  feeling  between  the  prince  and  the  doc- 
tor continued  to  the  close  of  life.] 

SUCCESSFUL  EFFOETS. 

May,  1832. — Wherever  I  went,  the  congregations  were 
vast,  and  the  collections  for  the  missions  great  beyond  ex- 
ample. At  Birmingham,  £12  last  year;  it  was  £50  this. 
At  Sheffield,  last  year,  £120 ;  this  year,  £240.  I  went  to 
Thorncliffe,  where,  instead  of  thirty  or  forty  shillings,  I  had 

£11 I  got  to  Bruerton,  and  on  Sunday  preached  at 

Stafford,  where  we  had  good  times.     Miss  B.  gave  me  £2 
for  vour  orphan-school,  and  £50  for  my  Irish  schools. 

31 


482  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

WHEN  LAST  IN  IKELAND. 

Coleraine,  June  1832. — I  am  here  cooped  up,  a  burden 
to  myself,  and  I  fear  to  others,  Since  I  got  to  this  place,  I 
have  not  been  able  to  go  where  I  could  do  the  work  for 
which  I  came  till  yesterday,  when  I  was  taken  by  Mr. 
M'Alwine  to  visit  the  Portrush  school,  with  the  intention 
of  returning  by  Port-Stewart.  But  I  was  so  exhausted, 
when  at  Portrush,  as  not  to  be  able  to  stand  alone ;  and 
therefore,  having  looked  around,  I  resumed  my  seat  and  got 
back  to  Coleraine,  to  all  my  feelings  worse  for  the  journey. 

For  want  of  manufactures  the  streets  and  the  country  are 
full  of  boys  and  girls  more  than  half  naked,  having  nothing 
to  do,  and  desiring  to  do  nothing.  Manufactories  are  a  bless- 
ing, independently  of  the  means  of  living  which  they  insure ; 
as  discipline  and  order,  which  they  produce,  are  unnoticed 
restraints  on  immorality  and  vice ;  and  "  order  is  Heaven's 
first  law."  The  want  of  it  is  ruinous.  I  think  how  much  I 
owe  to  it.  Had  it  not  been  for  this,  I  should  have  read  lit- 
tle and  written  less.  Time  would  have  hung  heavy  on  my 
hand,  and  yet  I  should  not  have  had  enough  of  it  for  any 
purpose  of  life.  As  everything  should  have  its  place,  so 
every  place  should  have  its  proper  occupant ;  and  habit  and 
caution  will  do  the  rest. 

THE  LAST  CONFEKENCE. 

July  22, 1832. — I  got  to  Liverpool  last  evening ;  obliged 
to  travel  all  night  and  all  yesterday.  My  friend?  were  look- 
ing out  for  me.  I  have  been  to  hear  Mi.  Entwisle  in 
Brunswick  Chapel,  on  "All  the  promises  of  God  are  yea  and 
amen."  I  am  got  here  almost  in  the  very  jaws  of  the  cholera. 
The  man-servant  of  this  family  took  it,  and  his  wife  took  it 
also.  They  have  escaped  with  the  skin  of  their  teeth.  The 
mistress  of  our  charity-school  in  this  chapel,  where  we  hold 
our  Conference,  was  taken  last  Saturday,  and  died  in  a  few 
hours.  Her  sister,  who  came  to  minister  to  her,  returned 
to  her  own  house,  was  seized  on  the  road,  and  was  dead  be- 
fore twelve  o'clock.  Am  I  then,  in  the  very  same  house 


SUPPLEMENT.  483 

and  chapel,  out  of  danger,  and  likely  to  escape  ?  Yes ;  if 
God  say,  "  The  cholera  shall  not  kill  thee."  I  am  waiting 
the  Divine  determination.  We  expect  a  crowd  of  preachers. 
I  think  when  they  are  come,  and  see  and  hear  as  I  do,  they 
will  put  their  helm  a-lee  and  seek  safety  on  some  other  tack. 
Liverpool  is  full  of  this  ruinous  disease.  Now,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Tomkins,  I  commend  you  and  yours  to  God,  and  the 
word  of  his  grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  give 
you  all  an  inheritance  among  the  saints  in  light. 

From  another,  to  Mrs.  Smith. — Hear  of  our  state,  and 
pity  us.  We  have  had  the  cholera,  with  its  concomitants  ; 
but,  thank  God,  it  is  abating.  My  niece  Burnett  and  her 
child  have  been  snatched  out  of  the  fangs  of  the  poisonous 
viper ;  and  now  a  burning  atmosphere  is  absorbing  all  our 
moisture.  I  keep  as  close  as  I  can  to  the  Conference,  and 
go  limping  on  my  staff.  I  am  constantly  in  fever ;  and  Mr. 
Hensman  comes  frequently  to  the  chapel  to  examine  my 
state.  Several  of  the  preachers  have  been  indisposed,  less 
or  more ;  but  I  trust  we  shall  return  with  our  ranks  unbro- 
ken. To-day  I  am  finally  set  down  supernumerary  for 
Windsor,  with  a  roving  commission. 

To  Mrs.  Clarke. — They  are  determined  to  commission 
me  to  be  a  general  visitant  of  the  Churches,  attend  public 
meetings,  and  make  collections.  Mr.  Watson  said  privately 
to  me,  that  "they  were  resolved  to  make  me  an  arch- 
bishop." .  .  .  Yesterday  I  delivered  up  the  Zetland  mis- 
sions to  the  Conference ;  also  the  £3,000  of  my  trusteeship, 
which  I  held  for  them  under  Mr.  Scott's  will,  and  the  £400 
which  I  have  from  Miss  Sophia  Ward.  I  have  offered  also 
the  Irish  schools,  which  I  believe  will  be  received. 

Frame,  August  9,  1832.  To  Mrs.  Clarice. — I  believe  I 
told  you  I  was  obliged  to  preach  at  Stanhope-street,  (Liver- 
pool,) before  the  Conference,  on  Sabbath  morning ;  and  a 
glorious  time  it  was.  The  preachers  were  greatly  affected, 
and  poor  Gaulter  cried  like  a  child.  I  returned  over  the 
water,  went  to  Mr.  Forshaw's  for  dinner  and  sleep,  and  the 
next  morning  set  off,  and  got  to  Worcester  in  twelve  hours. 


484  .  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

The  Rowleys  were  well,  and  the  cholera  within  a  few  doors 
of  them.  I  got  some  sleep,  rose  in  time,  and  set  off  for 
Bath,  which  I  reached  at  seven  in  the  evening.  Yesterday 
morning  got  a  coach,  and  arrived  at  Frome  before  twelve ; 
Found  Matilda  and  children  well,  and  Joseph  full  of  anx- 
iety, preparing  for  to-day's  meeting. 

Memorandum  by  the  Rev.  J.  B.  B.  Clarke. — For  some 
time  I  have  been  engaged  in  organizing  a  "  Society  for  the 
Amelioration  of  the  Condition  of  the  Poor"  in  the  extensive 
parish  of  Frome;  and,  wishing  to  obtain  all  the  help  in  my 
power,  I  wrote  to  my  father,  who  had  gone  down  to  the 
Conference  at  Liverpool,  urging  him  to  attend  our  public 
meeting,  and  to  preach  the  first  sermon  for  the  Society  in 
the  Methodist  chapel  of  the  town.  To  this  request  he  as- 
sented, and  wrote  to  say  he  hoped  to  be  in  Frome  on  the 
morning  of  the  9th,  which  was  the  time  appointed  for  the 
meeting. 

Much  earlier  in  the  morning  than  there  was  reason  to 
expect  my  father,  I  was  passing  through  the  hall,  when  I 
saw  the  well  known  blue  traveling-bag  resting  against  the 
wall ;  and,  filled  with  unexpected  joy,  I  went  to  the  dining- 
room,  which  he  had  entered  just  before  me.  "The  old 
man,  you  see,  Joseph,  is  come,"  sai4  he,  with  his  usual  tone 
of  kindness,  as  he  placed  his  hand  upon  my  head  and  kissed 
me ;  "  though  battered  and  tossed  about,  he  has  yet  strength 
to  come  at  the  call  of  his  son."  He  sat  down  for  a  few 
minutes  while  I  took  off  his  gaiters ;  and  then,  as  was  his 
frequent  custom,  he  began  to  walk  slowly,  diagonally  across 
the  room,  asking  various  questions  about  myself  and  family, 
and  talking  of  the  occurrences  and  company  he  had  met 
with  on  the  road  from  Cheshire.  It  was  then  that  I  ob- 
served a  very  marked  difference  in  his  appearance;  his 
cheeks  had  fallen  in,  and  he  was  considerably  thinner  than 
when  I  had  last  seen  him.  His  step  was  slow  and  heavy, 
•with  small  remains  of  that  elastic  firmness  for  which  his 
walking  was  always  remarkable ;  and  the  muscles  of  his 
legs  had  evidently  much  shrunk — a  sign  of  old  age  which 


SUPPLEMENT.  485 

his  straight  and  well-proportioned  limbs  had  never  before 
shown.  His  neck  also  was  apparently  shorter.  Besides 
these  symptoms  of  decay,  when  walking  out  with  me,  there 
was  more  dependence  on  my  arm,  and  on  his  staff,  than 
had  ever  been  usual  with  him. 

The  conversation  was  chiefly  occupied  with  family  affairs, 
and  the  plan  of  the  intended  Society.  He  entered  into  its 
object,  and  appeared  gratified  at  the  extensive  and  influential 
support  which  it  had  obtained.  It  was  impossible  not  to 
notice  the  depth  of  interest  which  he  felt;  all  showed  that 
what  he  said  and  did  were  the  results  of  feeling  and  con- 
sideration. This  observation  applies  to  his  whole  stay  with 
me.  .  .  .  Constantly  cheerful  and  pleasant,  and  even  play- 
ful ;  but  mingled  with  such  blandness  and  holiness  as  at 
once  won  you  to  love  the  man  who  thus  felt,  and  looked, 
and  spoke.  A  touch  of  heaven  seemed  to  have  passed  up- 
on all  his  feelings,  and  he  appeared  as  one  who  was  not 
preparing  to  be,  but  had  already  been,  beatified ;  his  joy 
was  so  pure,  his  kindness  so  heartfelt,  his  piety  so  intense, 
his  manners  and  voice  so  expressive  of  inward  peace.  Many 
times,  while  we  stayed  together,  was  I  compelled  to  give 
way  to  the  emotions  of  my  heart,  in  the  mental  exclama- 
tion :  "  Thou  God  of  Love !  I  bless  Thee  for  my  father." 

THE  FATHER'S  REJOICING  IN  THE  WORTHY  SON.* 
To  Mrs.  Smith,  August  14,  1832. — I  have  given  you 
some  information  relative  to  our  operations  at  Frome  on 
the  9th;  and  you  had  some  from  Matilda.  Give  me  leave 
to  make  a  reflection.  What  is  your  brother?  Nothing 
further  than  the  curate  of  a  vicar  ?  When  you  consider  his 
amazing  plan  to  visit  the  thirteen  thousand  persons  that 
form  £he  population  of  Frome,  and  relieve  and  instruct  all 
those  who  should  be  found  to  need  instruction  and  relief, 
you  may  call  it  Quixotish.  When  you  consider  his  hav- 
ing penetrated  into  every  lane,  and  alley,  and  court,  and 
divided  [the  place]  into  fifty-three  districts,  and  gone  into 
every  house  of  all  sects  and  parties,  and  prevailed  upon  a 


486  LIFE  OF  ADAM  CLARKE. 

sufficient  number  to  occupy  those  fifty-three  districts  as 
visitors,  you  may  judge  this  to  be  a  task  Herculean ;  and 
when  you  further  consider  that  this  young  man,  without 
patronage,  but  by  his  own  moral  weight,  has  projected  and 
established  such  a  work,  and  has  been  capable  of  bringing 
forward  to  the  assistance  of  the  institution  all  the  constitu- 
ted authorities  of  the  place,  the  Marquis  of  Bath,  the  Earl 
of  Cork,  the  Lord  bishop  of  the  diocese,  the  county  repre- 
sentatives, the  clergy,  etc.,  you  may  well  be  astonished. 
Such  an  effect  he  could  not  have  produced,  had  not  God 
been  with  him. 

ONE  OF  THE  LAST  LETTERS.* 

Bath,  August  20,  1832.  To  Mrs.  Tomkins.—l  have 
nearly  finished  my  work  in  these  parts,  and  must  get  home 
as  fast  as  I  can.  I  have  to  preach  the  anniversary  sermon 
at  Bayswater  next  Lord's  day.  I  have  had  some  hard  work 
hereabouts,  but  it  has  been  owned  of  the  Almighty.  Though 
far  from  being  w'ell,  I  have  had  either  incessant  work  and 
traveling,  or  confinement  and  suffering,  for  nearly  four 
months ;  and  now  I  should  have  rest ;  but  that,  I  doubt,  is 
yet  far  from  me.  My  wife  has  sent  me  a  letter  received 
from  the  Zetlands,  giving  an  account  of  a  most  calamitous 
event.  A  horrible  storm  at  sea  has  fallen  upon  the  poor 
fishing-boats ;  upward  of  thirty,  each  containing  five  or  six 
men,  are  supposed  to  have  perished.  Many  Methodists 
were  in  them,  and  not  a  few  leaders ;  and  the  misery  that 
has  fallen  to  our  lot  is,  at  least,  forty  widows,  and  more 
than  two  hundred  orphans.  I  thought  I  could  have  a  little 
rest,  but  now,  to  meet  this  calamity,  I  must  collect  my 
little  strength  and  set  out  afresh,  to  strive  to  meet  and  re- 
lieve this  loud  and  dismal  cry.  My  dear  Mrs.  Tomkins, 
you  must  endeavor  to  feel  with  me  for  them,  and  try  what 
you  can  do. 

About  seven  weeks  before  his  death,  Dr.  Clarke,  in  clos- 
ing a  short  journal  of  his  last  visit  to  Ireland,  does  it  with 


SUPPLEMENT.  487 

the  following  words  :  "  Thus  terminates  a  journey  remark- 
able for  affliction,  disappointment,  and  suffering.  I  went 
over  to  Ireland  to  work ;  I  could  do  nothing,  being  called 
to  suffer.  My  soul,  hast  thou  learned  any  good  les- 
son ?  Yes. 

"  What  is  it  1  It  is  this :  that  I  have  now  such  evidences 
of  old  age  as  I  never  had  before.  Yet  I  believe  my  under- 
standing is  as  clear,  and  my  judgment  as  sound,  as  ever. 
But,  during  my  late  detention  and  sufferings,  have  I  repined 
against  God  or  his  Providence — felt  that  my  lot  was  hard, 
and  that  I  was  not  permitted  by  him  to  do  that  work  which 
was  for  his  glory  1  No ;  I  was  only  disappointed ;  and  I 
endured  the  mortification  without  a  murmur.  I  was  enabled 
to  bow  my  neck  to  his  yoke,  or  lie  at  his  footstool.  I  felt 
that  he  was  doing  all  things  well,  that  I  was  safe  if  in  his 
hands ;  and  therefore  I  could  say,  and  did  often  repeat  that 
commendatory  petition  frequent  among  our  pious  fore- 
fathers— In  manus  Tuas,  Domine,  commendo  spiritum 
meum. 

"  The  cholera  was  before  me,  behind  me,  round  about  me ; 
but  I  was  preserved  from  all  dread.  I  trusted  in  the  sacri- 
ficial death  of  Jesus  :  no  trust  is  higher ;  and  none  lower  can 
answer  the  end.  I  have  redemption  through  his  blood ;  and 
I  am  waiting  for  the  fullness  of  the  blessing  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus. 

"  I  FEEL  A  SIMPLE  HEART  :  THE  PRAYERS  OF  MY  CHILDHOOD 
ARE  YET  PRECIOUS  TO  ME;  AND  THE  SIMPLE  HYMNS  WHICH 
I  SANG  WHEN  A  CHILD,  I  SING  NOW  WITH  UNCTION  AND  DE- 
LIGHT. 'E/wot  yao  TO  tfiv,  Xptardf  ical  TO  aTroOavelv, 
Ksodog.  (Phil,  i,  21.)  r?/pd<7/ca>  del,  7roA/ld  pi6aaKOfiKvoq. 
MAY  I  LIVE  TO  THEE,  DIE  IN  THEE,  AND  BE  WITH  THEE  TO 

ALL  ETERNITY.       AMEN. AoAM  CLARKE. 


THE    END. 


BOOKS  AND  PERIODICALS. 

CARLTON  &  PORTER, 

Agents  of  the  Methodist  Book  Concern,  200  Mulberry-street, 
New- York,  would  call  attention  to  a  few  of  their  numerous 
publications. 

THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  ADVOCATE 

Is  a  beautifully  illustrated  child's  paper,  edited  by  the  distinguished  friend  of  chil- 
dren, the  veritable  FRANCIS  FORRESTER,  and  is  issued  semi-monthly.  The  seven- 
teenth volume  will  commence  in  October,  1857.  The  circulation  is  some  160,000 
copies.  Price  25  cents  single,  and  20  cents  per  copy  when  ten  or  more  copies  are 
ordered  to  ono  address. 

SABBATH-SCHOOL   BOOKS. 

Of  these  we  have  about  1,100  bound  volumes,  besides  multitudes  of  Question  Books, 
Hymn  Books,  Picture  Books,  Catechisms,  Cards,  and  Tracts,  adapted  to  children  of 
all  ranks  and  ages,  and  we  are  adding  to  the  number  monthly.  They  are  bein^ 
ordered  and  prized  by  schools  of  all  denominations. 

Then  we  have  a  large  list  of  other  works,  beautifully  illustrated  for  gift-books  for 
children  and  youth,  which  are  equal  to  any  in  the  laud,  such  as, 

Harry  Bodd Price  $0  50  •  Poor  Nelly Price  *0  38 


Illustrated  Olio 0  7O 

Six  Steps  to  Honor O  65 

Uncle  Toby'*  Library,  18  vol..  8  00 

Pictorial  Catechism O  ?0 

Child's  Sabbath-Day  Book O  25 


Pictorial  Gathering* O  65 

Here  and  There O  15 

Historical  Series,  10  vols 8  5O 

Henry's  Birthday O  85 

Bird-Book O  70 


To  those  we  may  add  the  popular  volumes,  entitled, 


Pilgrim's  Progress Price  $1  50 

Path  of  Life O  50 

Manly  Character O  40 

Brldul  Greetings O  80 

Chart  of  Life O  6O 

The  Successful  Merchant O  4O 


Young  Man's  Counselor.. Price 90  55 

Young  Lady's  Counselor O  55 

Young  Man  Advised O  75 

Frank  Harley O  2O 

MlnlKterlng  Children O  '.'<• 

UbjectofUfe O  T5 


HIBBARD    ON   THE    PSALMS, 

Giving  the  time  when,  and  the  circumstances  under  which  each  Psalm  was  written, 
is  a  new  and  splendid  work  for  preachers,  teachers,  and  for  reading  in  family  wor 
ship.  Price,  S2  00. 

We  have  BIBLES  also,  Royal  Octavo  and  Imperial  Quarto,  in  different  styles  of 
binding,  ranging  in  prices  from  S3  to  $50  per  copy.  Besides,  we  have  a  large  lUt  of 
Miscellaneous  Works  of  various  sizes  and  costs,  on  moral  and  religious  subjects, 
which  only  need  to  be  known  to  be  appreciated. 

Catalogues  will  be  sent,  gratuitously,  to  all  who  order,  and  on 
receiving  the  retail  price  of  any  of  our  books,  we  will  forward 
said  books  free  of  charge.  Orders  sent  to  us  as  above,  or  to 
J.  P.  MAGEE,  No.  5  Cornhill,  Boston ;  or  J.  L.  READ,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa.;  or  to  H.  H.  MATTESON,  Seneca-street,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.;  or 
SWORMSTEDT  &  PoE,  Cincinnati,  or  any  other  Methodist  Book- 
sellers, will  receive  prompt  attention. 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CAKLTON  &  PORTER, 
200  Mulberry-street,  New  York. 

Ministering  Children, 

A  Story  showing  how  even  a  Child  may  be  as  a  Ministering  Angel 
of  Love  to  the  Poor  and  Sorrowful. 

Large  16mo.,  pp.  542.    Price   $0  90 

Illustrated  edition,  gilt  edges —    1  25 

Morocco,  gilt. 200 

This  is  one  of  the  most  moving  narrations  in  the  whole  list  of  our  pub- 
lications. Its  sale  in  England  has  reached  FORTY  THOUSAND  copies.  The 
illustrated  edition  contains  more  than  a  dozen  superb  cuts  on  plate  paper. 

Life  in  the  Itinerancy; 

In  its  Relation  to  the  Circuit  and  Station,  and  to  the  Minister's 
Home  and  Family. 

12mo.,  pp.  335.    Price $1  00 

Life  in  the  Laity; 

Or,  the  History  of  a  Station.  By  Rev.  L.  D.  DAVIS,  Author  of 
"  Life  in  the  Itinerancy." 

16mo.,  pp.  200.    Price $0  50 

Chart  of  Life, 

By  Rev.  JAMES  PORTER,  D.D. 
12mo.,  pp.  259.    Price $0  60 

The  design  of  this  book  is  to  indicate  thg  dangers  and  securities  con- 
nected with  the  voyage  of  life,  all  which  are  accurately  and  admirably 
described. 

Heroines  of  Methodism ; 

Or,  Pen  and  Ink  Sketches  of  the  Mothers  and  Daughters  of  the 
Church.  By  Rev.  GEORGE  COLES. 

12mo.,  pp.  336.    Price $0  90 

Heroes  of  Methodism, 

Containing  Sketches  of  Eminent  Methodist  Ministers,  and  Char- 
acteristic Anecdotes  of  their  Personal  History.  By  Rev.  J.  B. 
WAKELEY.  With  Portraits  of  Bishops  Asbury,  Coke,  and 
M'Kendree. 

12mo.,  pp.  470.    Pries $1  00 

Morocco 2  00 

l.ife-like  and  interesting  sketches  of  early  Methodist  preachers,  their 
(oils,  hardships,  und  achievements,  interspersed  with  anecdotes  lively 
and  entertaining. 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CARLTON  &  PORTER, 
200  Mulberry-street,  New  York. 

Stevens's  History  of  Methodism, 

The  History  of  the  Religious  Movement  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury, called  Methodism,  considered  in  its  Different  Denomina- 
tional Forms,  and  its  Relations  to  British  and  American  Prot- 
estantism. By  ABEL  STEVENS,  LL.  D.  Vols.  I  &  II.  From  the 
Origin  of  Methodism  to  the  Death  of  Wesley. 

Large  12mo.  Price  per  vol SI  00 

A  charming  work — full  of  thrilling  facts,  combined  and  stated  in  the 
most  interesting  manner.  The  work  has  been  read  and  highly  indorsed 
by  the  most  distinguished  authors.  One  says,  "  It  is  wonderfully  read- 
able;" and  another,  "I  have  been  interested  beyond  measure."  It  will 
be  a  standard  for  all  Methodists  for  all  time  to  come,  and  will  be  read  by 
thousands  of  Christians  of  other  denominations. 

It  contains  a  new  steel  engraving  of  Rev.  JOHN  WESLEY,  the  best  ever 
seen  in  this  country. 

The  volumes  which  are  to  follow  will  he  put  up  in  the  same  style,  so 
that  those  who  get  the  whole  will  have  uniform  sets,  though  they  buy  but 
one  volume  at  a  time. 

Hymns  and  Tunes, 

Hymns  for  the  Use  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.     With 

Tunes  for  Congregational  Worship. 

8vo.,  pp.  368.    Boan,  (20  per  cent,  discount  to  the  trade.). . .  $1  25 

Morocco,  marbled  edges 150 

extra  gilt 2  00 

This  work  embraces  all  the  hymns  in  our  standard  Hymn  Book,  and  no 

more.    It  contains  also  more  than  three  hundred  of  the  most  popular  old 

<ind  new  tunes  in  print,  and  is  offered  at  a  very  low  price  for  a  book  of  its 

cost,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  be  generally  adopted. 

Autobiography  of  Peter  Cartwright, 

Edited  by  W.  P.  STRICKLAND. 
12mo.,  pp.  525.    Muslin *1  00 

This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  autobiographies  of  the  age.  The 
sale  of  this  remarkable  book  has  averaged  two  thousand  copies  per  month 
since  its  appearance.  Thirty-two  thousand  have  been  printed,  and  stil. 
the  orders  come.  It  is  useless  to  add  anything  by  way  of  commendation. 
The  people  will  have  it,  and  we  are  prepared  to  supply  the  continued 
demand. 

What  must  I  do  to  be  Saved  ? 

By  JESSE  T.  PKCK,  D.D. 

18mo.,  pp.  192.    Price ....$035 

A  new  revival  book,  written  by  roqu.-st.  designed  to  awnken  the  sinnet. 
guide  the  peuitent  to  Christ,  anil  establish  the  young  com  u  it. 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CARLTON  &  PORTER, 
200  Mulberry-street,  New  York. 

Compendium  of  Methodism, 

A  Compendium  of  Methodism :  embracing  the  History  and  Pres- 
ent Condition  of  its  various  Branches  in  all  Countries  ;  with  a 
Defense  of  its  Doctrinal,  Governmental,  and  Prudential  Pecu- 
liarities. By  Rev.  JAMES  PORTER,  D.D.  Revised  edition. 

12mo.,  pp.  501.    Price $1  00 

This  work  has  received  universal  favor.  The  facts  that  our  bishops  have  put 
it  in  the  course  of  study  for  local  preachers,  and  that  it  has  been  translated  into 
the  German  and  Scandinavian  languages,  commend  it  to  the  confidence  of  all 
Methodists.  Its  peculiar  advantages  are,  1.  That  it  gives  a  connected  history  of 
Methodism  from  the  beginning  in  all  countries,  and  in  all  its  denominations. 

2.  That  it  shows  our  doctrinal  agreements  and  disagreements  with  other  sects. 

3.  That  it  exhibits  the  different  systems  of  church  government  in  the  world,  and 
the  relative  merits  of  each.    4.  That  it  explains  and  defends  all  our  prudential 
means  of  grace  and  other  peculiarities  as  no  other  book  does.    It  is  a  WHOLE 
LIBRARY  in  one  volume,  and  is  a  labor-saving  as  well  as  a  money-saving  pro- 
duction.   Its  importance  to  preachers  and  others  is  indicated  by  the  following 
testimonials : 

It  is,  in  fact,  a  digest  of  Methodism.  The  arrangement  and  execution  of  the 
several  parts  are  admirable.  The  style  is  a  model  of  perspicuity,  ease,  and  vigor; 
and  in  point  of  condensation,  the  volume  is  literally  crowded  with  important 
matter.  We  have  hardly  seen  as  great  compactness  without  confusion,  or  an 
equal  number  of  pages  from  which  so  few  could  be  eliminated  without  detriment. 
Hut  what  is  far  more  important  than  the  mode  of  composition  is  the  spirit  which 
pervades  the  work.  The  author  writes  with  that  candid  discrimination  so  essen^ 
tial  to  the  proper  discussion  of  the  topics  which  he  handles. — Ed.  of  North.  Adv. 

This  work  is  a  valuable  acquisition  to  our  Church  literature.  It  embodies 
much  important  information,  arrangfd  in  a  natural  and  convenient  form,  anc! 
attords  a  good  general  outline  of  Methodism.  It  is  a  work  of  much  merit.  I  do 
cheerfully  commend  it,  as  a  whole,  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  our  friends 
and  the  public  generally. — T.  MORRIS,  Bishop  of  M.  E.  Church. 

I  like  the  book  much.  It  will  do  good.  Our  people  and  friends  ought  to  read 
and  study  it  thoroughly.  It  furnishes  a  satisfactory  answer  to  the  petty  objec- 
tions urged  against  the  Methodists  by  a  set  of  ecclesiastical  croakers  with  which 
we  are  everywhere  beset.  One  gentleman,  whom  I  let  have  a  copy,  after  reading 
it  carefully,  remarked,  "It  is  the  book  needed  ;  I  would  not  take  twenty  dollars 
for  my  copy  if  I  could  not  obtain  another." — REV.  JUSTIN  SPAULDING. 

I  have  just  finished  the  reading  of  this  book,  and  I  wish  to  express  my  decided 
approbation  of  it.  It  should  be  a  family  book,  a  Sunday-school  book,  and  I  would 
add  especially,  a  text-look  for  all  candidates  for  tlte  ministry. — J.  T.  PECK,  D.D. 

The  work  throughout  is  not  a  criticism  on  Methodist  usages,  but  a  statement 
and  defense  of  them.  As  such,  we  trust  it  will  meet  with  the  wide  circulation  it 
deserves,  both  in  and  out  of  the  Church. — Methodist  Quarterly  Review. 

We  have  examined  the  book,  and  most  cordially  recommend  our  friends,  one 
and  all,  to  procure  it  immediately.  No  Methodist  can  study  it  without  profit, 
and  gratitude  to  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  for  the  wisdom  imparted  to  those 
who  have  been  the  instruments  employed  in  constructing  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions under  which  the  operations  of  this  most  successful  branch  of  the  Church 
are  conducted. — Editor  of  the  Christian  Guardian,  Toronto. 

It  is  precisely  the  volume  needed  to  instruct  our  people  in  the  peculiarRies  of 
our  system.  The  special  character  of  Methodism  is  here  developed  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  show  that  it  is  specially  excellent,  and  worthy  of  special  zeal  and 
special  sacrifices.  It  is  very  systematically  arranged,  and  therefore  convenient 
for  reference  on  any  given  point.  To  the  Methodist,  especially  the  "  official  " 
Methodist,  this  book  is  fitted  to  be  a  complete  manual;  and  to  all  others  who 
would  understand  what  Methodism  precisely  is,  as  a  whole,  or  in  any  specific 
respect,  we  commend  Dr.  Porter's  work  as  an  ACKNOWLEDGED  AUTHORITY.— 
A..  STEVENS,  LL.D. 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CARLTON  &  PORTER, 
200  Mulberry-Street,  New  York. 

Harmony  of  Divine  Dispensations. 

Harmony  of  the  Divine  Dispensations.  Being  a  Series  of  Dis- 
courses on  Select  Portions  of  Holy  Scripture,  Designed  to  show 
the  Spirituality,  Efficacy,  and  Harmony  of  the  Divine  Revelation* 
made  to  Mankind  from  the  Beginning.  With  Notes,  Critical 
Historical,  and  Explanatory.  By  GEORGE  SMITH,  F.  A.  3., 
Member  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Literature,  Fellow  of  the  Genealogical  and  Historical  Society, 
etc.,  etc. 

8vo.,  pp.  319.    Sheep $150 

Half  calf 200 

This  is  a  new  work,  being  reprinted  from  the  London  edition  to  corre- 
spond with  the  "  Patriarchal  Age,"  "  Hebrew  People,"  and  "  Gentile 
Nations,"  by  the  same  distinguished  author.  It  will  be  sold  in  connection 
with  the  others,  or  separately.  It  is  a  profound  work,  and  will  have  a 
large  sale. 

Lady  Huntingdon  Portrayed, 

Including  Brief  Sketches  of  some  of  her  Friends  and  Co-laborers. 
By  the  Author  of  "  The  Missionary  Teacher,"  "  Sketches  of  Mis- 
sion Life,"  etc. 

Large  16mo.,  pp.  319.    Muslin $0  75 

Morocco 1  75 

Hibbard  on  the  Psalms, 

The  Psalms  Chronologically  Arranged,  with  Historical  Intro- 
ductions, and  a  General  Introduction  to  the  whole  Book.  By 
F.  G.  HIBBARD. 

8vo.,  pp.  589.    Muslin $2  00 

Half  Morocco 250 

Morocco 500 

This  book  occupies  an  important  place  in  Biblical  interpretation,  and 

is  a  valuable  contribution  to  Biblical  literature. 

The  Object  of  Life: 

A  Narrative  Illustrating  the  Insufficiency  of  the  World,  and  the 
Sufficiency  of  Christ.  With  four  Illustrations. 

Large  16mo.,  pp.357.    Price SO  75 

Morocco 175 

The  Living  Way; 

Or,  Suggestions  and  Counsels  concerning  some  of  the  Privileges 
and  Duties  of  the  Christian  Life.  By  Rev.  JOHN  ATKINSON. 

16mo.,  pp.  139.    Price $0  40 


BOOKS  PUBLISHED  BY  CARLTON  &  PORTER, 
200  Mulberry-street,  New  York. 

Reasons  for  becoming  a  Methodist, 

Hy  Rev.  I.  SMITH,  for  some  Years  a  Member  of  the  Close-Com- 
munion Calvinist  Baptist  Church.  Including  a  brief  Account  of 
the  Author's  Religious  Experience  up  to  the  Time  of  his  becom- 
ing a  Methodist. 

18mo.,  pp.  160.    Price $030 

This  work  was  written  by  Rev.  I.  Smith,  now  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Conference.  It  was  printed  in  Boston  a  few  years  ago,  and 
seventeen  thousand  copies  have  been  sold.  Knowing  the  work  from  its 
first  issue,  and  believing  it  to  be  calculated  to  do  great  good,  we  have 
recently  bought  the  plates,  and  shall  soon  bring  out  the  nineteenth 
edition,  with  some  improvements.  Brother  Smith  was  formerly  a  Calvin- 
istic  Close-Communion  Baptist,  but  being  placed  in  circumstances  obliging 
him  to  consider  the  principles  he  professed  to  believe,  he  was  led  to  re- 
nounce them.  He  subsequently  joined  the  Methodists,  and  became  a 
preacher.  This  book  develops  the  reasons  which  influenced  his  action  in 
the  premises,  and  they  are  well  stated.  Preachers  who  are  molested  by 
Baptist  influences,  will  find  this  work  just  the  thing  to  circulate.  We 
have  put  it  upon  our  list  to  extend  its  usefulness,  more  than  to  make 
money  out  of  it. 


The  Pioneers  of  the  West; 

Or,  Life  in  the  Woods.     By  W.  P.  STRICKLAND. 
12mo.,  pp.  403.    Price $1  00 

This  decidedly  popular  book,  which  sketches  to  the  life  the  Pioneer  Ex- 
plorers, Settlers,  Preachers,  Hunters,  Lawyers,  Doctors,  School  Teachers, 
and  Institutions  of  the  West,  is  meeting  with  an  extensive  sale. 

The  True  Woman; 

Or,  Life  and  Happiness  at  Home  and  Abroad.    By  JESSE  T. 
PECK,  D.D.,  Author  of  "  The  Central  Idea  of  Christianity." 

12mo.,  pp.  400.  Price $1  00 

Gilt  edges 125 

Gilt  edges,  beveled 150 

Morocco 200 

In  this  volume  the  author  has  illustrated  his  ideal  of  female  character 
iiy  a  series  of  didactic  precepts  and  familiar  examples.  His  standard  is 
not  taken  from  the  prevailing  customs  and  opinions  of  society,  but  from 
the  highest  teachings  of  Christian  ethics.  In  his  remarks  on  the  intel- 
fctual  cultivation  of  woman,  he  condemns  novel-reading  in  decided 
i-erms,  regarding  it  as  a  "  crime,  murderous  to  the  heart,  the  intellect, 
and  the  body;"  while  he  as  warmly  recommends  the  perusal  of  literary 
periodicals,  and  insists  on  having  access  to  at  least  one  daily  or  weekly 
newspaper.  The  work  isjwritten  with  great  earnestness  and  feeling,  with 
fin  occasional  exuberance  of  expression. — N.  Y.  Tribune. 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
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